Red-tailed Hawk (alternate names: Buzzard-hawk, Chickenhawk)

This feather belongs to the adult Red-tailed Hawk, a large Buteo with broad, rounded wings and a short, wide tail. Adult hawks are famous for the namesake cinnabar-red tail that glows when back-lit by the sun. They are often seen perched on telephone poles or soaring in thermals, emitting a husky, screaming 'kee-ee-arrr' call.

Distinctive rufous or brick-red dorsal color with a subtle dark subterminal band near the tip. The underside is typically a pale pinkish-white. This coloration indicates an adult bird (at least 2 years old), as juveniles have brown-banded tails.

Densely packed pennaceous barbs providing a firm, wind-resistant surface for flight; plumulaceous at the extreme base (calamus area).

Smooth, stiff, and somewhat matte. The surface is designed to withstand high air pressure during soaring and steering.

Unmistakable rufous/orange-red coloration without heavy barring; large size; stiff, broad rachis; and rounded apex.

Extremely versatile: found in open woodlands, grasslands, agricultural fields, scrublands, and increasingly in urban and suburban parklands.

Year-round resident across most of North America, from central Alaska and Canada down through Central America to the West Indies. Northern populations are migratory.

Apex predator and critical for rodent control. They occupy a high trophic level and serve as indicators of environmental health.

Ferruginous Hawk (typically has more white/paler tail), Red-shouldered Hawk (shorter, heavily banded black and white tail), and Juvenile Red-tailed Hawk (brown with many dark thin bars).

The Red-tailed Hawk's scream is so iconic that it is almost always used in Hollywood movies to represent any eagle or hawk, including the Bald Eagle (which actually has a much weaker, chirping call).

Fair to Good. Shows signs of wear along the trailing edge (fraying), common in molted feathers that have reached the end of their lifecycle.