Red-tailed Hawk (also known as the chicken hawk or redtail)

A magnificent and powerful raptor, the Red-tailed Hawk is easily recognized by its broad wings and distinctive brick-red tail in adults. They are master soarers, often seen perching on highway poles or circling gracefully in thermal updrafts while hunting small mammals.

Rich rufous-brown base color heavily crossed with dark brown or black horizontal transverse bars, featuring a prominent wide dark subterminal band and a narrow white tip

Tightly interlocked pennaceous structure along the main vane for aerodynamics, with a distinct fluffy plumulaceous downy base near the calamus, and a small, understated afterfeather

Stiff, smooth, and matte finish with firm, rigid vanes that resist bending, designed to withstand high winds during soaring flight

Distinctive rufous-brown coloration combined with crisp dark horizontal barring and a prominent dark subterminal band near a white tip, set on a broad, stiff rectrix shaft

Extremely adaptable, inhabiting open country, woodlands, deserts, urban areas, agricultural fields, scrublands, and roadside clearings across North America

Widely distributed throughout North America, breeding from western Alaska and northern Canada down to Panama and the Caribbean; northern populations are migratory

Acts as a vital apex avian predator helping to control rodent populations and maintain balanced small mammal ecosystems across diverse habitats

Swainson's Hawk and Ferruginous Hawk, but distinguished by the specific width of the subterminal band and rich rufous tones typical of adult Buteo jamaicensis

Red-tailed Hawks have phenomenal eyesight, capable of spotting a mouse from a height of 100 feet, and their iconic screech is frequently used in Hollywood films to sound like any eagle or hawk

Good condition with intact barbs and minimal fraying at the tip, showing minor natural wear consistent with a naturally molted feather found outdoors