Males and females look alike, although the female can be 1/3 larger than the male. It is grayish-brown on its back and wings and white with reddish-brown streaks on its breast and belly. It has a long, rounded tail with gray and black bars and a white band at the tip short, rounded wings red eyes and yellow legs. Retrieved on 20 June, 2007.Ĭopyright All Rights Reserved © Canadian Raptor Conservancy.ICUN Redlist - World Status: Least ConcernĬooper's hawk is a medium-sized hawk 15-20 inches in length with a wingspan of 24-35 inches.
#Hawk wingspan code
Electronic Code of Federal Regulations (e-CFR). The Red-Tailed Hawk: A Complete Guide to Training and Hunting North America’s Most Versatile Game Hawk. Department of the Interior: Fish and Wildlife Service. The Audubon Society Encyclopedia of North American Birds. 79th Street Boat Basin Flora and Fauna Society. San Francisco State University Dept of Geography. A Guide to the Birds of Mexico and Northern Central America. After 28 to 35 days, the eggs hatch over 2 to 4 days. The male brings most food to the female while she incubates. They are incubated primarily by female, with the male substituting when the female leaves to hunt or merely stretch her wings. Eggs are laid approximately every other day.
Clutch size depends almost exclusively on the availability of prey for the adults. The nest is constructed of twigs, and lined with bark, pine needles, corn cobs, husks, stalks, aspen catkins, or other plant lining matter.Ī clutch of 1 to 3 eggs is laid in March or April. The pair constructs a stick nest in a large tree or on a cliff ledge or may nest on man-made structures. The same nesting territory may be defended by the pair for years. In general, the Red-tailed Hawk will only take a new mate when its original mate dies. It is monogamous, mating with the same individual for many years. The Red-tailed Hawk reaches sexual maturity at two years of age. The Red-tailed Hawk hunts primarily from an elevated perch site, swooping down from a perch to seize prey, catching birds while flying, or pursuing prey on the ground from a low flight. Additional preys include rabbits, snakes, waterfowl, bats, shrews, crustaceans, insects, rodents, and fish. Prey varies with regional and seasonal availability, but usually centers on small rodents. Its diet is mainly small mammals, but it also includes birds and reptiles. Like all birds of prey, the Red-tailed Hawk is carnivorous, and it is also an opportunistic feeder. However, the cry is often inaccurately used for the Bald Eagle, whose own vocalizations are quite different and less robust. This high, piercing scream is often featured in the background of adventure movies to give a sense of wilderness to the scene. This cry is often described as sounding similar to a steam whistle.īecause of its robust crispness, a certain recording of the cry of the Red-tailed Hawk is a cliché cinematic sound effect. The cry of the Red-tailed Hawk is a hoarse, rasping scream, described as kree-eee-ar, which begins at a high pitch and slurs downward. Its feathers are considered sacred by some tribes, and are used in religious ceremonies. The Red-tailed Hawk also has significance in Native American culture. It is legally protected in Canada, Mexico and the United States by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.īecause they are so common and easily trained as capable hunters, Red-tailed hawks are very often used for falconry. It lives throughout the North American continent, except in areas of unbroken forest or the high arctic. The Red-tailed Hawk occupies a wide range of habitats and altitudes, including deserts, grasslands, coniferous and deciduous forests, tropical rainforests, agricultural fields and urban areas. The Red-tailed Hawk displays sexual dimorphism in size, as females are about 25% heavier than males. It typically weighs from 690 to 1600 grams (1.5 to 3.5 pounds) and measuring 45–65 cm in length, with a wingspan from 110 to 145 cm. Although, the tail of the immature Red-tailed Hawk is patterned with numerous darker bars. This hawk gets his name from his uniformly brick-red tail. It breeds throughout almost all North America from western Alaska and northern Canada to as far south as Panama and the West Indies, and is one of the most common hawk in North America. The Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) is a medium-sized bird of prey.
0 kommentar(er)
