red-tailed hawk buteo jamaicensis by weston weller

Red-Tailed Hawk

Buteo jamaicensisBy

Weston Weller

RECAP

In case you did not get notes from video…

Habitat

• Red-Tails can occupy about every habitat in North America, that is why they are so widespread and known

• Can find them in grasslands, deserts, mountain plains, forests, open fields, deserts, even rainforests

Classification

Animalia

Chordata

Aves

Falconiform

Accipitridae

Buteo

jamaicensis

Distribution

• Ranges from Canada to Panama

• Conservation Status: Stable and numbers are increasing

Physical Characteristics • Females are usually

larger than males• No other extreme

differences for the male and female

Behavior

• Does not hibernate

• Migrates short distances

Reproductive • Mating: done by spectacular aerial

maneuvers

• Have 2-4 eggs, rarely 1 or 5

• Incubation done by both parents, 28-35 days

• Females stay in nest while males drop food to them

• Mate for life

Young• Cainism is not

common but not rare. Happens when older siblings need protein to grow, but does not occur as much as eagles

• Leave the nest at 39-46 days

• A common predator of these chicks is the Great Horned Owl

Diet and Hunting Behavior

• Eats small mammals (squirrels, voles, etc), small birds, reptiles, even fish

• Hunt by swooping down from a perch to seize prey, also can be seen soaring over fields, looking for prey

Human Relations

• Red-tailed Hawks are very helpful to us as controllers of rodents

• They were becoming endangered because of pesticides and other chemicals used by us, but we have stopped using as much as we once did.

Interesting Facts

• Most movies you watch, regardless of what bird you see on the screen, you hear a Red-Tailed Hawk call.

• Prime example: Lord of the Rings/ The Hobbit