Image of Red-tailed Hawk

Description:

The Red-tailed Hawk, Buteo jamaicensis, is a medium-sized bird of prey, one of three species colloquially known in the United States as the 'chickenhawk,' though it rarely preys on chickens. It breeds almost throughout 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 buteos in North America. 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. It lives throughout the North American continent, except in areas of unbroken forest or the high arctic.