Red-tailed Hawk (also known as the Hen Hawk or Buzzard Hawk)

The Red-tailed Hawk is a powerful and iconic North American raptor recognized by its broad wings and distinctive rust-colored tail in adults. This particular body feather showcases a striking barred pattern on a rounded tip with a soft downy base designed for warmth.

Distinctive reddish-brown or cinnamon-brown alternating bands (barring) against a white and grey background, typical of juvenile or morph-specific Red-tailed Hawk plumage

Mixed structure featuring a pennaceous, interlocked tip with distinct barbicels and a highly plumulaceous, fluffy base with loose barbs

Soft and silky at the downy base, transitioning to a smoother, firmer, and matte texture along the banded pennaceous tip

Distinctive reddish-brown transverse barring on a light background, combined with a half-pennaceous, half-plumulaceous structure characteristic of raptor contour feathers

Extremely adaptable, found in deserts, scrublands, coniferous and deciduous forests, urban areas, agricultural fields, and grasslands

Widespread across North America, ranging from western Alaska and northern Canada down through all of the United States into Central America and the Caribbean

Acts as a top avian predator, regulating rodent and small mammal populations to maintain healthy local ecosystems

Cooper's Hawk, Sharp-shinned Hawk, and Swainson's Hawk, though the specific size, bar width, and downy base structure help isolate it as a Buteo

Red-tailed Hawks have incredible eyesight capable of spotting a mouse from 100 feet in the air, and they feature prominently in indigenous folklore and falconry

Fair condition, showing minor fraying at the edges and some surface dust or debris on the plumulaceous base, but retaining its structural integrity and color pattern well