Red-tailed Hawk

Overview
Red-tailed Hawk: Large, highly variable hawk with brown upperparts, head and throat. The underparts are pale with brown streaks. Wings are pale below with dark bar at leading edge and dark tips. The tail is red-brown with dark terminal band. Legs and feet are yellow. Soars on thermals and updrafts.

Range and Habitat
Red-tailed Hawk: Found in Alaska and Canada south to Panama. Found in open country, woodlands, prairie groves, mountains, plains, farmlands, and roadsides.

The Red-tailed Hawk is one of three species known in North America as a “chickenhawk”. Its breeding grounds range throughout North America, from western Alaska and northern Canada to Panama and the West Indies. This species inhabits a wide range of environments such as deserts, grasslands, coniferous and deciduous woodlands, tropical rainforests, farm fields and urban areas. The only place it is not found in North America is unbroken forest areas and the high arctic. This species is very trainable and used commonly by falconers in the United States. The conservation rating for the Red-tailed Hawk is Least Concern.

INTERESTING FACTS
The raspy cry of the Red-tailed Hawk is typically used in movies to represent any eagle or hawk anywhere in the world. Males and females perform a courtship ritual in which they dive and roll in the sky. They will even lock talons and fall together a distance before splitting apart. They can spot a mouse from a height of 100 feet. A group of hawks has many collective nouns, including a "boil", "knot", "spiraling", "stream", and "tower" of hawks.