Red-tailed Hawk Buteo jamaicensis

(photograph by Bob Shettler)

If you take a stroll on a warm sunny afternoon through Canada’s woods and fields you will likely encounter North America’s most widespread and common raptor – the Red-tailed Hawk. As it lazily rides a thermal and gracefully banks, even the casual observer will recognize the red tail for which it is named. Plumages are highly variable: some individuals are very dark and others quite light. In fact, 14 sub-species are recognized. They begin to breed in their second year and pairs are monogamous. The chilling cry is a sound often heard in movies.

Each spring Red-tailed Hawks makes their way northward from their wintering grounds in Central America, Mexico and the United States. Their breeding habitat is highly variable over their range and includes deserts, prairies, and forests. Upon arriving at their summer range, pairs begin housekeeping duties. Both sexes participate in nest building. The nest is usually built high in a deciduous tree and is often adorned with fresh greenery. A pair uses the same territory year after year. Two to four eggs are laid and are incubated primarily by the female over 30-35 days. The male provides his mate with food until the chicks hatch and the young leave the nest in about 45 days.

The Red-tailed Hawk has benefited from the patchy landscape created by agricultural expansion. The resultant grasslands and fields are suitable for hunting and wooded areas provide perching and nesting sites. Red-tailed Hawks are of benefit to the agricultural industry as they consume thousands of rodents each spring including ground squirrels and mice. In the past the Red-tailed Hawk, like other raptors, was commonly shot in retaliation for raids on poultry farms, giving it the notorious nickname of “chickenhawk.” With increased urbanization, education and legislation, this threat has greatly diminished.

A Rocha is part of an international raptor monitoring network. A Rocha's counts take place in southern Manitoba where thousands of raptors migrate through the Pembina Valley, the home of Canada’s second A Rocha Field Study Centre. Over 5,000 raptors of 13 species pass through the valley each spring. The Red-tailed Hawk is the most abundant raptor migrant in the valley and on exceptional days observers have counted over 3,000 individuals. A Rocha is entering its fifth spring count season in 2009 and we hope that soon a portion of this valley will become part of Canada’s Important Bird Area network.

Paul Goossen

Paul Goossen is Chair of the A Rocha Manitoba Action Projects and coordinates A Rocha Pembina Valley's spring raptor migration count.