If you are lucky, you may get a chance to observe the red-tailed hawk courtship. But the red-shouldered hawk is definitely more capable in forested areas, more agile in flight, and will resume nesting in the territory nearby. The red-tailed hawk is a bit larger, stronger, and more aggressive, and of course was able to chase the other hawk out of the area. We recently witnessed a red-tailed hawk chasing a red-shouldered hawk into the forested area on the edge of the wetland. Their prey species overlap, but the red-shouldered hawk consumes many frogs, snakes and other herptile creatures as well as mice, while the red-tailed hawk prefers small mammals. Red-tailed hawks use a more open area for hunting and typically nest on the edge of the woods, rather than deep in the forest as does the red-shouldered hawk. Fifth image ISO 800, f6.3 1/2000.Although both the red-tailed hawk and the red-shouldered hawk nest on our sanctuary in western Midland County, each has its own niche. Images made with a Canon 5Div, 100-400mm ISII zoom lens, aperture priority setting. The buteos remaining in our area will be overwhelmingly Red Tails, with a few Ferruginous Hawks thrown into the mix. The last birds will be passing through our area in the next week or two. We’re seeing the winding down of the Swainson’s Hawk migration. One more factor that helps identify this bird: Swainson’s Hawks are much fonder of perching on the ground than are Red Tails. It also has the more svelte physique of a Swainson’s Hawk and its very long wings are evident. The yellow base of its beak and its bright yellow legs give this bird away. It took me a half-minute of studying the bird before I was positive that it was a Red Tail.įinally, Hawk # 5 is a very obvious Swainson’s Hawk. On first impression I thought that it was a juvenile Swainson’s Hawk. All of this said, I got this bird wrong when I first saw it. Also, juvenile Red-tailed Hawks tend to have very pale eyes as this bird has, a feature that is largely absent with juvenile Swainson’s Hawks. However, it has a physique that is typical of a Red-tailed Hawk and the base of its beak is pale. Its plumage is not at all characteristic of adult Red Tails, and it lacks a red tail (remember: juvenile Red-tailed Hawks don’t have red tails). Hawk # 4 is a juvenile Red-tailed Hawk and I’d say that this bird is the hardest to identify at first glance. To my eye, the bird is somewhat more gracefully built than are the Red Tails, but that is subjective. The bright yellow base of its beak and its yellow legs are the tell here. But, note: this bird has a very obvious red tail. Its plumage varies considerably from that of Hawk # 1, but that’s not unusual with these hawks (Swainson’s Hawks have tremendously varied plumage as well). This bird also has a blocky physique that says “Red Tail.” Note that the base of its beak is a very pale yellow. Hawk # 1 has the classic “southwestern” Red Tail plumage. If you guessed that the third and fifth bird are Swainson’s Hawks, you are correct! The other three are Red Tails. I still make occasional mistakes, however. It gets easier to tell the species apart when you’ve had substantial practice identifying these birds in the field. Now, these distinctions are pretty subtle. On a perching Swainson’s Hawk the tips of its wings reach or pass the end of the bird’s tail whereas a Red-tailed Hawk’s wings don’t extend quite so far. Red Tails tend to have a somewhat more robust build than do Swainson’s Hawks and Swainson’s Hawks have longer wings in proportion to their bodies than do Red Tails. Swainson’s Hawks also tend to have yellower legs than those of Red-tailed Hawks. Red Tails, by contrast, generally have paler skin at the bases of their beaks and in some instances that skin isn’t yellow at all. Swainson’s Hawks nearly always have a bright yellow base to their beaks (the part closest to their heads). That feature is absent with juvenile birds, but if a hawk has a red tail then you may rest assured that it is a Red-tailed Hawk. The vast majority of adult Red-tailed Hawks have red tails. Two of these birds are Swainson’s Hawks, three are Red-tailed Hawks. Today, I’m presenting five images of hawks. You may enlarge any image in this blog by clicking on it.
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