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That Nest in Birdhouses70birds
That Nest in BirdhousesRed-tailed Hawk
(Chicken Hawk)
Order: Falconiformes
Family: Accipitridae
Genus: Buteo
Species: jamaicensis
Gr. phalkon falcon
La. falcula, falcis small sickle (a reference to its talons)
La. forma form, shape, kind
La. accipere to grasp, take
La. accipiter hawk
La. -idae appearance, resemblance
La. buteo buzzard
La. jamaicensis for the Island of Jamaica
Red-tailed Hawks are the largest of the common American hawks, almost two feet long with a four foot wing span.
Brown crown, cheeks, and shoulders. Distinctive rusty red, broad, barred tail tipped with white and a narrow black band near its end. Buff white underparts with heavy brown markings across the lower breast and on the flanks.
Red-tailed hawks inhabit forests and groves in most of Canada and Alaska as far north as there are trees, throughout the lower 48 states, Central America and some Caribbean Islands. Northern hawks migrate short distances.
Red-tailed hawks soar high overhead in great spirals searching for prey occasionally emitting a weak distant high pitched whistle.
They suddenly lift their wings above their back, falling, then shooting earthward like a meteor finally slowing with their outstretched wings in the last second before gripping their prey with talons.
Red-tailed hawks eat mice, rabbits, gophers and other small mammals, birds, reptiles, crayfish and insects.
They watch for rodents and birds rousted by farm machinery moving in crop fields.
They are commonly seen perched atop line poles in rural areas. In good growing seasons when flora thrive, so do rodents, and so then do hawks and owls. In some years there can be very high populations of predators and competition for space can be fierce.
Bounties were once paid for red-tailed hawks because of their occasional appetite for poultry and game birds until raptors became recognized for their place in the ecosystem and were protected by law.
Sometimes they are city birds. Red-tailed hawks are occasionally reported nesting on tall buildings and chasing prey in city parks in New York City, Cincinnati, Denver and more cities.
Red-tailed hawks build nests out of rather large sticks lined with smaller twigs, strips of bark and its own feathers high in trees in forests near clearings, and groves in open country where they can observe broad areas from a high perch. Their nests are usually near the tops of trees, often more than 50 feet high. They sometimes use the same nest for years.
Females lay two or three, sometimes four dull white irregularly marked eggs which hatch after about four to five weeks incubation. Downy covered chicks are first helpless then soon begin pecking at provided prey quickly becoming more active. They grow quite large, as large as the adults and fly out of the nest after about another 6 weeks.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recommends a square platform 24 inches on each side mounted 14′ or higher for the Red-tailed Hawk (same as for the Great Horned Owl).
Assemble with corrosion resistant bolts and screws fit to pre-drilled pilot holes.
Mount 14′ or higher on a sturdy post or structure on a forest edge or in a clearing adjacent to the tree line.
Take great care. Tall construction projects are dangerous for ground workers and passers by.
Red-tailed Hawk Platform
Objects made with heavy materials can fall apart under their own weight if not constructed properly. Have it constructed by professional trades workers.
Red-tailed Hawk
(Chicken Hawk)
Order: Falconiformes
Family: Accipitridae
Genus: Buteo
Species: jamaicensis
Gr. phalkon falcon
La. falcula, falcis small sickle (a reference to its talons)
La. forma form, shape, kind
La. accipere to grasp, take
La. accipiter hawk
La. -idae appearance, resemblance
La. buteo buzzard
La. jamaicensis for the Island of Jamaica
Red-tailed Hawks are the largest of the common American hawks, almost two feet long with a four foot wing span.
Brown crown, cheeks, and shoulders. Distinctive rusty red, broad, barred tail tipped with white and a narrow black band near its end. Buff white underparts with heavy brown markings across the lower breast and on the flanks.
Red-tailed hawks inhabit forests and groves in most of Canada and Alaska as far north as there are trees, throughout the lower 48 states, Central America and some Caribbean Islands. Northern hawks migrate short distances.
Red-tailed hawks soar high overhead in great spirals searching for prey occasionally emitting a weak distant high pitched whistle.
They suddenly lift their wings above their back, falling, then shooting earthward like a meteor finally slowing with their outstretched wings in the last second before gripping their prey with talons.
Red-tailed hawks eat mice, rabbits, gophers and other small mammals, birds, reptiles, crayfish and insects.
They watch for rodents and birds rousted by farm machinery moving in crop fields.
They are commonly seen perched atop line poles in rural areas. In good growing seasons when flora thrive, so do rodents, and so then do hawks and owls. In some years there can be very high populations of predators and competition for space can be fierce.
Bounties were once paid for red-tailed hawks because of their occasional appetite for poultry and game birds until raptors became recognized for their place in the ecosystem and were protected by law.
Sometimes they are city birds. Red-tailed hawks are occasionally reported nesting on tall buildings and chasing prey in city parks in New York City, Cincinnati, Denver and more cities.
Red-tailed hawks build nests out of rather large sticks lined with smaller twigs, strips of bark and its own feathers high in trees in forests near clearings, and groves in open country where they can observe broad areas from a high perch. Their nests are usually near the tops of trees, often more than 50 feet high. They sometimes use the same nest for years.
Females lay two or three, sometimes four dull white irregularly marked eggs which hatch after about four to five weeks incubation. Downy covered chicks are first helpless then soon begin pecking at provided prey quickly becoming more active. They grow quite large, as large as the adults and fly out of the nest after about another 6 weeks.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recommends a square platform 24 inches on each side mounted 14′ or higher for the Red-tailed Hawk (same as for the Great Horned Owl).
Assemble with corrosion resistant bolts and screws fit to pre-drilled pilot holes.
Mount 14′ or higher on a sturdy post or structure on a forest edge or in a clearing adjacent to the tree line.
Take great care. Tall construction projects are dangerous for ground workers and passers by.
Red-tailed Hawk Platform
Objects made with heavy materials can fall apart under their own weight if not constructed properly. Have it constructed by professional trades workers.
Red-tailed Hawk
Birds | Birdhouses | Plans | Home
(Chicken Hawk)
Order: Falconiformes
Family: Accipitridae
Genus: Buteo
Species: jamaicensis
Gr. phalkon falcon
La. falcula, falcis small sickle (a reference to its talons)
La. forma form, shape, kind
La. accipere to grasp, take
La. accipiter hawk
La. -idae appearance, resemblance
La. buteo buzzard
La. jamaicensis for the Island of Jamaica
Red-tailed Hawks are the largest of the common American hawks, almost two feet long with a four foot wing span.
Brown crown, cheeks, and shoulders. Distinctive rusty red, broad, barred tail tipped with white and a narrow black band near its end. Buff white underparts with heavy brown markings across the lower breast and on the flanks.
Red-tailed hawks inhabit forests and groves in most of Canada and Alaska as far north as there are trees, throughout the lower 48 states, Central America and some Caribbean Islands. Northern hawks migrate short distances.
Red-tailed hawks soar high overhead in great spirals searching for prey occasionally emitting a weak distant high pitched whistle.
They suddenly lift their wings above their back, falling, then shooting earthward like a meteor finally slowing with their outstretched wings in the last second before gripping their prey with talons.
Red-tailed hawks eat mice, rabbits, gophers and other small mammals, birds, reptiles, crayfish and insects.
They watch for rodents and birds rousted by farm machinery moving in crop fields.
They are commonly seen perched atop line poles in rural areas. In good growing seasons when flora thrive, so do rodents, and so then do hawks and owls. In some years there can be very high populations of predators and competition for space can be fierce.
Bounties were once paid for red-tailed hawks because of their occasional appetite for poultry and game birds until raptors became recognized for their place in the ecosystem and were protected by law.
Red-tailed hawks build nests out of rather large sticks lined with smaller twigs, strips of bark and its own feathers high in trees in forests near clearings, and groves in open country where they can observe broad areas from a high perch. Their nests are usually near the tops of trees, often more than 50 feet high. They sometimes use the same nest for years.
Sometimes they are city birds. Red-tailed hawks are occasionally reported nesting on tall buildings and chasing prey in city parks in New York City, Cincinnati, Denver and more cities.
Females lay two or three, sometimes four dull white irregularly marked eggs which hatch after about four to five weeks incubation. Downy covered chicks are first helpless then soon begin pecking at provided prey quickly becoming more active. They grow quite large, as large as the adults and fly out of the nest after about another 6 weeks.
Red-tailed Hawk Platform
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recommends a square platform 24 inches on each side mounted 14′ or higher for the Red-tailed Hawk (same as for the Great Horned Owl).
Assemble with corrosion resistant bolts and screws fit to pre-drilled pilot holes.
Mount 14′ or higher on a sturdy post or structure on a forest edge or in a clearing adjacent to the tree line.
Take great care. Tall construction projects are dangerous for ground workers and passers by.
Objects made with heavy materials can fall apart under their own weight if not constructed properly. Have it constructed by professional trades workers.
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