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Red-tailed Hawk - Buteo jamaicensis

Image Copyright and Usage Information
Native Species

Global Rank: G5
State Rank: S5B


Agency Status
USFWS: MBTA
USFS:
BLM:
PIF:


 

External Links


Listen to an Audio Sample
Copyright by Borror Laboratory of Bioacoustics, Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, all rights reserved.
 
General Description
Plumage is extremely variable, ranging from very light forms to very dark forms. The "typical" color phase is dark brown above and white below, with a band of dark speckling across the belly (belly band), and a rusty-red tail (paler underneath). Flying birds are white with brown barring underneath, dark brown edges around the wings, and dark brown shoulder patches. The dark belly band is easiest to see in flying birds. The western race of Red-tailed Hawks is darker with more streaking than the typical phase. Krider's Red-tailed Hawk is a very pale race found in the Great Plains, including eastern Montana. These are light mottled brown above and nearly pure white below. The belly band is often indistinct or absent, and the tail is usually light rust above and creamy below with faint barring. Harlan's Red-tailed Hawk (formerly considered a distinct species) is dark mottled brown above, and light brown and white streaked below, with a brown barred tail. They breed in northern Canada and Alaska, and are seen in Montana only during migration. All of these races can have light and dark individuals (color phases). The dark (melanistic) color phase is much less common than the light color phase. Melanistic Red-tailed Hawks have a dark brown belly, and dark brown wing "arms," with light flight feathers, giving their wings a two-toned appearance from underneath. The immature Red-tailed Hawks of all color phases and races look similar to the adults, except they have brown barred tails and more brown streaking over the rest of their bodies. Red-tailed Hawks range in length from 19 to 25 inches, and have a wingspan of 46 to 58 inches.

For a comprehensive review of the conservation status, habitat use, and ecology of this and other Montana bird species, please see Marks et al. 2016, Birds of Montana.

Diagnostic Characteristics
Krider's Red-tailed Hawks are easily mistaken for Ferruginous Hawks, but they have white feathering on the legs (Ferruginous Hawks have dark feathering on the legs). Rough-legged Hawks of all ages and color phases have a white tail with a black terminal band, instead of the rust or brown tail of the Red-tailed Hawk. Swainson's Hawks have a chestnut-brown bib, but no belly band, and have dark-colored flight feathers instead of light ones.

Species Range
Montana Range Range Descriptions

Year-round

Western Hemisphere Range

 


Observations in Montana Natural Heritage Program Database
Number of Observations: 42083

(Click on the following maps and charts to see full sized version) Map Help and Descriptions
Relative Density

Recency

SUMMER (Feb 16 - Dec 14)
Direct Evidence of Breeding

Indirect Evidence of Breeding

No Evidence of Breeding

WINTER (Dec 15 - Feb 15)
Regularly Observed

Not Regularly Observed


 

(Observations spanning multiple months or years are excluded from time charts)



Migration
Red-tailed Hawks migrate to the southern United States for the winter, although some winter in Montana. Bozeman area: March 20 to May 10 and August 28 to October 25. Harlani and kriderii occur mainly as migrants.

Habitat
Red-tailed Hawks nest in trees and on cliffs, and hunt over grasslands, open woodlands, and agricultural areas.

Ecological Systems Associated with this Species
  • Details on Creation and Suggested Uses and Limitations
    How Associations Were Made
    We associated the use and habitat quality (common or occasional) of each of the 82 ecological systems mapped in Montana for vertebrate animal species that regularly breed, overwinter, or migrate through the state by:
    1. Using personal observations and reviewing literature that summarize the breeding, overwintering, or migratory habitat requirements of each species (Dobkin 1992, Hart et al. 1998, Hutto and Young 1999, Maxell 2000, Foresman 2012, Adams 2003, and Werner et al. 2004);
    2. Evaluating structural characteristics and distribution of each ecological system relative to the species' range and habitat requirements;
    3. Examining the observation records for each species in the state-wide point observation database associated with each ecological system;
    4. Calculating the percentage of observations associated with each ecological system relative to the percent of Montana covered by each ecological system to get a measure of "observations versus availability of habitat".
    Species that breed in Montana were only evaluated for breeding habitat use, species that only overwinter in Montana were only evaluated for overwintering habitat use, and species that only migrate through Montana were only evaluated for migratory habitat use.  In general, species were listed as associated with an ecological system if structural characteristics of used habitat documented in the literature were present in the ecological system or large numbers of point observations were associated with the ecological system.  However, species were not listed as associated with an ecological system if there was no support in the literature for use of structural characteristics in an ecological system, even if point observations were associated with that system.  Common versus occasional association with an ecological system was assigned based on the degree to which the structural characteristics of an ecological system matched the preferred structural habitat characteristics for each species as represented in scientific literature.  The percentage of observations associated with each ecological system relative to the percent of Montana covered by each ecological system was also used to guide assignment of common versus occasional association.  If you have any questions or comments on species associations with ecological systems, please contact the Montana Natural Heritage Program's Senior Zoologist.

    Suggested Uses and Limitations
    Species associations with ecological systems should be used to generate potential lists of species that may occupy broader landscapes for the purposes of landscape-level planning.  These potential lists of species should not be used in place of documented occurrences of species (this information can be requested at: mtnhp.org/requests) or systematic surveys for species and evaluations of habitat at a local site level by trained biologists.  Users of this information should be aware that the land cover data used to generate species associations is based on imagery from the late 1990s and early 2000s and was only intended to be used at broader landscape scales.  Land cover mapping accuracy is particularly problematic when the systems occur as small patches or where the land cover types have been altered over the past decade.  Thus, particular caution should be used when using the associations in assessments of smaller areas (e.g., evaluations of public land survey sections).  Finally, although a species may be associated with a particular ecological system within its known geographic range, portions of that ecological system may occur outside of the species' known geographic range.

    Literature Cited
    • Adams, R.A.  2003.  Bats of the Rocky Mountain West; natural history, ecology, and conservation.  Boulder, CO: University Press of Colorado.  289 p.
    • Dobkin, D. S.  1992.  Neotropical migrant land birds in the Northern Rockies and Great Plains. USDA Forest Service, Northern Region. Publication No. R1-93-34.  Missoula, MT.
    • Foresman, K.R.  2012.  Mammals of Montana.  Second edition.  Mountain Press Publishing, Missoula, Montana.  429 pp.
    • Hart, M.M., W.A. Williams, P.C. Thornton, K.P. McLaughlin, C.M. Tobalske, B.A. Maxell, D.P. Hendricks, C.R. Peterson, and R.L. Redmond. 1998.  Montana atlas of terrestrial vertebrates.  Montana Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit, University of Montana, Missoula, MT.  1302 p.
    • Hutto, R.L. and J.S. Young.  1999.  Habitat relationships of landbirds in the Northern Region, USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station RMRS-GTR-32.  72 p.
    • Maxell, B.A.  2000.  Management of Montana's amphibians: a review of factors that may present a risk to population viability and accounts on the identification, distribution, taxonomy, habitat use, natural history, and the status and conservation of individual species.  Report to U.S. Forest Service Region 1.  Missoula, MT: Wildlife Biology Program, University of Montana.  161 p.
    • Werner, J.K., B.A. Maxell, P. Hendricks, and D. Flath.  2004.  Amphibians and reptiles of Montana.  Missoula, MT: Mountain Press Publishing Company. 262 p.

Food Habits
Red-tailed Hawks eat primarily ground squirrels and other small rodents, but also feed on a wide variety of other animals. Red-tailed Hawks often eat snakes, including rattlesnakes.

Ecology
Numbers decreasing in Fortine area. Light phase reported most often. In Gallatin valley, 11.6% of pairs non-breeding; territories ranged from 2.6 to 4.6 sq.km.

Reproductive Characteristics
One to three eggs are laid in April. Incubation lasts about a month. The young fly in June or July when 6 to 7 weeks old. Incubation seen April 19; hatching late June; young still in nest late July. In Gallatin valley, 53% of nests successful, average 2.34 young fledged. Infertility loss = 3.7%; nesting mortality = 5.9%.


References
  • Literature Cited AboveLegend:   View Online Publication
    • Marks, J.S., P. Hendricks, and D. Casey. 2016. Birds of Montana. Arrington, VA. Buteo Books. 659 pages.
  • Additional ReferencesLegend:   View Online Publication
    Do you know of a citation we're missing?
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Red-tailed Hawk — Buteo jamaicensis.  Montana Field Guide.  .  Retrieved on , from