Red-tailed Hawk (Chicken Hawk)

The Red-tailed Hawk is a large, bulky raptor with broad, rounded wings and a short, wide tail. Adults are famous for their cinnamon-red upper tail, though juveniles lack this. This feather reflects the bird's cryptic dorsal coloring, designed to blend into woodland canopies.

Mottled brown and white. The outer vane is a solid dark earthy brown, while the inner vane features characteristic creamy-white marbling or 'ventral banding' mixed with dark brown bars. This pattern is diagnostic for many Buteo species.

Pennaceous and tightly interlocked throughout the main vane for aerodynamic integrity; plumulaceous (downy) barbs are visible at the base (calamus area) for insulation.

Smooth and firm on the pennaceous vane with a slightly matte finish. The upper surface is designed to be weather-resistant, while the underside (ventral) is paler and softer.

The combination of the dark leading edge and the starkly mottled/barred white and brown inner vane, coupled with the broad 'secondary' shape and raptorial stiffness.

Extremely versatile; found in open woodlands, agricultural fields, prairies, deserts, and increasingly in urban parks and highway median strips.

Year-round resident across most of North America, from central Alaska and Canada south to Panama. Northernmost populations are migratory, wintering in the southern US and Mexico.

Apex predator, primarily controlling rodent and lagomorph (rabbit) populations. They are essential for maintaining the balance of small mammal populations in their ecosystems.

Red-shouldered Hawk (smaller, more defined checkerboard pattern), Cooper's Hawk (more uniform gray/brown banding), and Broad-winged Hawk (smaller with fewer, wider bands).

The 'screech' sound used in Hollywood movies for almost every eagle or hawk is actually the recorded call of a Red-tailed Hawk. Real Bald Eagles have much chirpier, less 'majestic' voices.

Good condition. There is slight separation of the barbs at the tip ('splitting'), and the plumulaceous base appears slightly matted, suggesting it was naturally molted or weathered.