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

The Red-tailed Hawk is a powerful, heavy-set raptor with broad, rounded wings and a short, wide tail. Adults typically feature a rich brown back, pale mottled underparts, and a distinctive brick-red tail. They are masterful soarers often seen perching on roadside poles or circling gracefully overhead.

Rich warm brown and deep chestnut tones alternating with prominent, clean white barring and spots, anchored by a sturdy whitish-brown rachis

Pennaceous upper vane with tightly interlocked barbicels transitioning into a fluffy, plumulaceous base with a distinct, downy afterfeather

Smooth and firm along the upper pennaceous vane, transitioning to soft, fluffy, and downy at the base where insulation is needed

Distinctive warm brown and white barred pattern, strong contrasting white spots, rounded tip, and a fluffy downy base with an afterfeather typical of Buteo body feathers

Extremely adaptable, inhabiting open country, deserts, scrublands, urban areas, deciduous and coniferous forests, and agricultural fields

Widespread throughout North America, ranging from Alaska and northern Canada down to Central America and the Caribbean

Acts as a top apex avian predator helping to regulate rodent and small mammal populations, serving as an important ecological indicator of environmental health

Cooper's Hawk or Ferruginous Hawk, but distinguished by the specific warmer brown tones and broader, rounded body contour shape rather than sleek flight feather banding

The Red-tailed Hawk's iconic screaming cry is so dramatic that it is frequently used in Hollywood films to sound-effect any eagle or hawk flying on screen, even bald eagles

Good condition with minor wear and slight fraying at the extreme edges of the plumulaceous base, intact rachis, and vibrant coloration