Red-tailed Hawk (also known as Chickenhawk or Buzzard)

Distinctive banded tail feather from a juvenile Red-tailed Hawk. Unlike adults who possess the eponymous solid rufous tail, juveniles have brown-and-white banded tails to aid in camouflage.

Base color is off-white to pale buff, featuring approximately 10-12 distinct, dark brown transverse bars. Distal end shows a wider dark subterminal band with a white tip.

Densely interlocked pennaceous barbs throughout the majority of the vane, with a small plumulaceous (downy) section at the base (calamus).

Smooth, stiff, and somewhat glossy. Highly durable texture designed for the mechanical stress of steering and braking during flight.

Regularly spaced dark brown horizontal banding on a pale background; thick, pale rachis; rounded tip with a dark subterminal band.

Extremely versatile: open country, woodlands, prairies, desert groves, urban parks, and highway verges.

Found throughout North America, from central Alaska and northern Canada south to Panama and the West Indies.

Apex predator primarily feeding on small mammals (rodents, rabbits); vital for pest control and maintaining ecological balance.

Red-shouldered Hawk (darker, thinner bands), Cooper's Hawk (more rounded/shorter), or juvenile Broad-winged Hawk (fewer, thicker bands).

The 'screech' sound used in Hollywood movies for almost every eagle or hawk is actually the recorded call of a Red-tailed Hawk.

Good condition; minimal vane separation, though some trailing edge wear is visible. Likely a naturally molted feather.