The Red-Tailed Hawk
A Raptor On Every Post
© Copyright 2007 Ron Pera
As you are driving along the roads and byways of Puget Sound you probably have noticed a large bird perching on posts and power lines. At a quick glance you will see a dark head, buff chest area, indiscriminate belly band and reddish upper tail. You have just identified the adult Red-tailed hawk, one of sixteen regular occurring raptors that call Puget Sound home.
Identification of these raptors can be tricky because of variation in plumage with six light-morphed and three dark-morphed birds identified by experts in the field of ornithology.*
The Red-tailed hawks are found through out North America with their favored habitats open fields and edges of forested areas.
These hawks are diurnal raptors, hunting by perching above ground watching for movement and listening for sounds of prey. When they spot quarry they swoop down from their perches and attack with their talons. They carry small prey to their perches, but will eat large prey on the ground. One reason this hawk is so wide spread in North America is the variety of its diet. They dine mostly on rodents such as mice and voles. However, they will take rabbits, squirrels, reptiles, amphibians, grasshoppers, spiders, earthworms, crustaceans, fish, other birds, bats, insects, fish and some carrion.
Red-tailed hawks are sexual dimorphic with the female being larger than her mate. Breeding can be monogamous and they may mate for life. They are solitary nesters; with nests built from sticks and twigs then lined with green plant material. Both partners help in the construction of the nest, which is normally built in the crotch of a large tree or cliff ledge. A pair will have one brood a year with both parents tending the young.
The flight pattern of Red-tailed hawks is strong rapid wing beats followed by a long glide (flip-flip-flip-glide). They soar on the thermals and sometimes appear to hang on updrafts. While there is a resident population of Red-tailed hawks in Puget Sound some birds are migratory, going to Canada in the summer.
Sheila Pera,
Beach Watcher Class '03, Skagit Audubon, Nature Conservancy
More Info
*Hawks of North America by William S. Clark and Brian K. Wheeler is an excellent field guide about the 35 raptor species in North America.
For additional information about raptor research in Puget Sound go to: Falcon Research Group at
www.frg.org (Dial-up users - this site takes a long time to load.)