Red-tailed Hawk
(Buteo jamaicensis)

Overview

Summary

© Chuck Kling
For additional photos and vocalizations, visit Dendroica. (Link opens in a new window.)

One of the most commonly seen hawks in Canada, the Red-tailed Hawk breeds from the Maritime provinces to the west coast and north into the Yukon and Northwest Territories. The Breeding Bird Survey and the Christmas Bird Count indicate that the Canadian population has increased since 1970. The species is highly variable morphologically across its range, with up to 16 subspecies being recognised by some authors (Preston and Beane 2009).

Designations

Population status

Population estimate

Distribution maps

• BirdLife International / NatureServe
• North American Breeding Bird Survey (BBS): Relative Abundance and Breeding Distribution (1970-2016)

Migration strategy, occurrence

Responsibility for conservation

General nesting period in Canada

Conservation and management

Often able to adapt to urban expansion and human activities, this species nests in a wide variety of habitats, although usually in open woodlands with nearby fields or grasslands for foraging (Preston and Beane 2009). Populations of the species expanded in the 20th century with deforestation of the east and fire suppression in the west (Preston and Beane 2009). Global and North American populations are secure (Farmer et al. 2008).

Bird conservation region strategies

Environment and Climate Change Canada and partners have developed Bird Conservation Region Strategies in each of Canada’s Bird Conservation Regions (BCRs). In these strategies, selected species are identified as priorities for one or more of the following reasons:

• conservation concerns (i.e., species vulnerable due to population size, distribution, population trend, abundance, or threats)
• stewardship responsibilities (i.e., species that typify the regional avifauna or have a large proportion of their range or population in the sub-region)
• management concerns (i.e., species that require ongoing management because of their socio-economic importance as game species, or because of their impacts on other species or habitats)
• other concerns (i.e., species deemed a priority by regional experts for other reasons than those listed above or because they are listed as species at risk or concern at the provincial level)

Select any of the sub-regions below to view the BCR strategy for additional details.

References

• Farmer, C.J., L.J. Goodrich, E. Ruelas and J. Smith. 2008. Conservation status of North American raptors. pp. 303-420 in: State of North America's Birds of Prey. Bildstein, K. L., J. P. Smith, E. Ruelas Inzunza, and R. Veit, Eds. Nuttall Ornithological Club and American Ornithologists' Union, Series in Ornithology, No. 3, Cambridge, MA and Washington, DC.
• Preston, C.R. and R.D. Beane. 2009. Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis), The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Preston, C.R. and R.D. Beane. 2009. Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis), The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. (Link)