Red-tailed Hawk Identification

The Four Keys to ID

• Size & Shape

  Red-tailed Hawks are large hawks with typical Buteo proportions: very broad, rounded wings and a short, wide tail. Large females seen from a distance might fool you into thinking you’re seeing an eagle. (Until an actual eagle comes along.)

  Relative Size

  The Red-tailed is the second-largest Buteo hawk in North America, after Ferruginous Hawk.

  between crow and goose

  Measurements

  • Male
  • • Length: 17.7-22.1 in (45-56 cm)
    • Weight: 24.3-45.9 oz (690-1300 g)
    • Wingspan: 44.9-52.4 in (114-133 cm)
  • Female
  • • Length: 19.7-25.6 in (50-65 cm)
    • Weight: 31.8-51.5 oz (900-1460 g)
    • Wingspan: 44.9-52.4 in (114-133 cm)

  © Jonathan Eckerson / Macaulay Library

• Color Pattern

  Most Red-tailed Hawks are rich brown above and pale below, with a streaked belly and, on the wing underside, a dark bar between shoulder and wrist. The tail is usually pale below and cinnamon-red above, though in young birds it’s brown and banded. “Dark-morph” birds are all chocolate-brown with a warm red tail. “Rufous-morph” birds are reddish-brown on the chest with a dark belly.

• Behavior

  You’ll most likely see Red-tailed Hawks soaring in wide circles high over a field. When flapping, their wingbeats are heavy. In high winds they may face into the wind and hover without flapping, eyes fixed on the ground. They attack in a slow, controlled dive with legs outstretched – much different from a falcon’s stoop.
• Habitat

  The Red-tailed Hawk is a bird of open country. Look for it along fields and perched on telephones poles, fenceposts, or trees standing alone or along edges of fields.

Regional Differences

Red-tailed Hawks have extremely variable plumage, and some of this variation is regional. A Great Plains race called "Krider's" hawk is pale, with a whitish head and washed-out pink in the tail. Light-morph western birds tend to be more streaky on the underparts than eastern Red-tails; south Texas forms are darker above, without the dark belly band most other Red-tails have. Dark-morph birds can occur anywhere but are more common in western North America - particularly in Alaska and northwest Canada, where the all-dark "Harlan's" race is common.

Regional Photos

© Brian Sullivan / Macaulay LibraryNevada, September 24, 2010

© Jonathan Eckerson / Macaulay LibraryMassachusetts, February 18, 2017

© Brian Sullivan / Macaulay LibraryOklahoma, March 01, 2012

© Cameron Eckert / Macaulay LibraryYukon Territory, April 22, 2017

© Jay McGowan / Macaulay LibraryTexas, July 25, 2016

© Kelly Preheim / Macaulay LibrarySouth Dakota, October 10, 2015