Red-tailed Hawk (Buzzard)

A classic primary feather from the continent's most recognizable raptor. Red-tailed Hawks are large birds with broad, rounded wings and short, wide tails. Adults are famous for their brick-red tail, but their wing feathers like this one retain a barred brown-and-white camouflage pattern.

Pale creamy white to light grey base with distinct dark brown horizontal bars (banding). The tip is solid dark fuscous-brown. The underside is much lighter/paler than the dorsal side.

Densely interlocked pennaceous barbs on the majority of the vane for flight rigidity; some plumulaceous (fluffy) barbs near the superior umbilicus at the base.

Stiff and smooth with a slight gloss on the dorsal surface. The leading edge feels particularly rigid to provide a 'cutting' surface against the air.

Distinctive dark banding on a light background, asymmetrical vane for flight, and a solid dark tip. Size and thickness are characteristic of a large Buteo hawk.

Extremely versatile: found in open woodlands, agricultural fields, scrublands, deserts, and increasingly in urban parks and highways.

Year-round resident across most of North America, from central Alaska and Canada south to Panama and the West Indies.

Top-tier predator; regulates populations of small mammals (voles, mice, squirrels) and occasionally reptiles or other birds.

Red-shouldered Hawk (smaller, more frequent banding), Cooper's Hawk (shorter, more rounded), and Rough-legged Hawk (different banding density).

The 'screech' of a Red-tailed Hawk is so iconic and piercing that Hollywood sound editors almost always use it for the voice of any eagle or hawk in movies, including the Bald Eagle.

Good condition; slight fraying on the trailing edge suggests it was naturally molted. No significant fault bars or parasitic damage visible.