# Red-tailed Hawk

*Buteo jamaicensis*

Almost every time you hear a hawk scream in a movie, regardless of the species shown on screen, it is actually the recorded call of a Red-tailed Hawk.

- **Taxonomy:** Animalia › Chordata › Aves › Accipitriformes › Accipitridae › Buteo
- **IUCN Red List status:** Least Concern
- **Population trend:** increasing
- **Biome:** grassland
- **Habitat:** Open landscapes including fields, pastures, parklands, and desert scrub, often nesting in high trees or on cliff ledges at the forest edge.
- **Diet:** Carnivorous; primarily small mammals like voles, mice, and rabbits, but also snakes, lizards, and smaller birds.
- **Range:** North America, Central America, Caribbean
- **Size:** Wingspan of 3.4 to 4.8 feet; weight of 1.5 to 3.5 pounds.
- **Lifespan:** 10-15 years in the wild
- **Active:** diurnal
- **Threats:** Secondary poisoning from rodenticides and lead shot, collisions with vehicles and power lines, and habitat loss.
- **Safe to approach?:** Harmless to humans from a distance. Observe quietly with binoculars. They are defensive only when protecting nests; maintain a 50-yard distance from nesting sites. If you find an injured hawk, do not attempt to handle it yourself as the talons are dangerous; contact a licensed wildlife rehabilitator immediately.

## About

The red-tailed hawk ( Buteo jamaicensis ) is a bird of prey that breeds throughout most of North America, from the interior of Alaska and northern Canada to as far south as Panama and the West Indies. It is one of the most common members within the genus of Buteo in North America or worldwide. The red-tailed hawk is one of three species colloquially known in the United States as the "chickenhawk", though it rarely preys on standard-sized...

## Sources

- Plate: https://gaia-dex.com/species/46fe7e8d-1487-4383-b714-881cc75b4606
- iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/5212
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buteo jamaicensis
- Conservation status: IUCN Red List category, as recorded by Gaia-Dex
- Photo: https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/319785046/medium.jpg (Claude Lyneis, CC0, via iNaturalist)

Habitat, diet, size and similar notes are AI-written summaries; check them against the linked sources before relying on them.