Talk:Red-tailed hawk

References?

There are two references (12/Oregon and 14/Terres) that do not have proper citations and are leading to "Cite Errors". Anyone know the proper citations? Naturespace (talk) 23:58, 9 April 2008 (UTC)

Recording

A certain recording of the cry of the Red-tailed Hawk is probably one the most often heard cinematic sound cliché. This high fierce scream is often featured in the background of adventure movies to give a sense of wilderness to the scene.

Question - Is there a list of Films with this sound? - Like the List_of_films_using_the_Wilhelm_scream

I fixed a mechanical error in this section (misuse of comma)68.82.51.210 19:38, 29 April 2006 (UTC)

Buteo

I put Buteo in the first line. Neither buzzard nor hawk are satisfactory because of their different meanings in American and British usage.

jimfbleak 07:42, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

Buteo is not a useful term for the average Joe looking at this page, though. Hawk is an appropriate term for all. 65.94.107.29

The Ferruginous, not the Red-tail, is the largest buteo. Also, reverse sexual dimorphism, not sexual dimorphism, means the female is larger than the male. In the case of red-tails their size differences tend to overlap.

--The above is incorrect. Sexual dimorphism simply states that there is a difference in appearance between the two sexes. It does not matter in which sex.

The purpose of an encyclopedia is to educate, mind. Would it really hurt an Average Joe, Simon or Frank to learn that a Red-tail is actually a Buteo and what a Buteo is? Sabine's Sunbird talk 19:23, 1 April 2007 (UTC)

If you read a few words into the text, you will see the bird's scientific name. The line as it was is as absurd as saying "The Bald Eagle is a large Haliaeetus." It tells the average reader absolutely nothing about the bird. You could change it to "...large hawk of the genus Buteo," but that is already stated when the scientific name is given in the SAME SENTENCE.142.150.48.211

There is no need to shout. And how is having hawk any different from Buteo in the way you mention? Jim' solution works for me. Sabine's Sunbird talk 19:23, 2 April 2007 (UTC)

I agree about the shouting, but I like the "bird of prey" edit. The binary name provides access to specific information, while the generic link, and the term itself, is an improvment for may readers, I think.--Hjal 04:26, 3 April 2007 (UTC)

They're called capital letters. It's not shouting. Holeinthetoad 17:19, 3 April 2007 (UTC)

Abundance?

 —Preceding unsigned comment added by Hawkinschris (talk • contribs) 21:50, 3 April 2008 (UTC) 

What makes the red-tail the most common raptor in North America? I would guess Sharp-shinned. Does anyone have a reference for this? If not, it shall be changed. 65.94.107.29

Your own guess is good enough for your proposed sharpie edit, but you otherwise require a citation? Classy.

Look, fool. I didn't make any "proposed sharpie edit." I merely took out the claim that the RTHA is the most common raptor, because there is no citation to back the claim up. My "own guess" about the Sharp-shinned was simply that: my own guess. I didn't make any edits based on this. Classy? Who are you? 67.70.99.45 17:20, 16 May 2007 (UTC)

I'm not sure that it is the most common raptor in North America but I am pretty damn sure. Certainly it is by far more populous than the Sharp-Shinned Hawk. You can check with Audubon or anybody really about that, there is not even any comparison in population between those two species. I am curious what part of the continent you are from that you would have the impression?

Do you have any sort of reference to back up your claim? As any biologist will tell you, smaller species tend to be more abundant than larger species. It's all about biomass. That's why I figured the SSHA would be more abundant than the RTHA. So yes, it is valid to compare the population size of these two species; it is not likely that the RTHA dwarfs the SSHA in population size as you claim. So I followed your advice and checked with "anybody really about that." I had a look at the count data produced by Hawkwatch International, which I imagine is a reputable authority. Go have a look. At how many locations times do they count more RTHA than SSHA? Not many. What about the reverse? A lot. It doesn't seem unreasonable, then, to hypothesize that the SSHA is more abundant than the RTHA. Got any sort of data to dispute this? Try signing your posts. 128.100.181.59 15:59, 7 August 2007 (UTC)

The article says that the RTH is "one of the most common" buteos in North America. I believe that it was changed back in May, when the issue originally came up. Since the statement is no longer in the article, there isn't any need to argue about it, although if anyone happens to have a reference which specifically says whether the RTH is the most abundant, or second most abundant, or whatever rank it actually occupies, it would be a good addition to the article. Otherwise, it'll say that it is "one of the most common buteos", and that's fine. Cheers, Jude. 18:56, 7 August 2007 (UTC)

WHAT SIZE PREY CAN A HAWK TAKE?

I live just outside of Atlanta, and I believe we have red-tail hawks here. I keep seeing three hawks circling my property when my three dogs are out in the field. The dogs are smallish... between 14 and 25lbs. Is it possible that the hawks are considering my dogs as prey?? It seems unlikely to me, but this has happened several times.

Just today there was a hawk out between our apartment buildings (we have a pond) and it was trying to kill a full grown female duck, it would've had it too if some stupid people hadn't chased it off! I was within 2 feet of the beautiful bird and it was trying to chocked it with it's talons (too bad ducks have a great breath holding talent) when we came inside it was still scoping the bird from the treetops, i hope it gets to finish it's task and eat!

I have heard of birds of prey taking small dogs, but it depends on the size. also, make sure there not just vultures waiting around for something to happen. The only birds of prey I can think of that hunt in groups are harris hawks, which mainly live out in the southwest and mexico Michael1115 (talk) 13:59, 13 December 2008 (UTC)

Generally wild hawks won't attack anything they can't carry away, but there are occasional hawks that will attack larger prey. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.27.95.201 (talk) 18:17, 19 August 2010 (UTC)

I live up north, in New England, and we have an abundance of red-tailed hawks in the part of the city I live in that has fairly tall buildings, but not that tall, of the sort mostly found in residential neighborhoods. These birds often dwell atop large churches, older hospitals, schools and city buildings, mostly those built sixty or more years ago.

We have a large number of them in my neighborhood, and near a pond just outside my building, I've seen them swoop down from,--of all places!--an old seminary administration building, and grab rabbits, squirrels and ducks in their large talons, then fly away.

One lovely sunny summer day I observed this behavior, and it truly frightened me, as the park is popular with young mothers with small children, some still in their baby carriages, and I was concerned for the safety of these tiny, defenseless pre-school children, especially those who were at a considerable distance from their mothers, as I have no doubt these large birds could swoop up a small child and carry it away.

John B. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Telegonus (talk • contribs) 10:06, 5 April 2014 (UTC)

Why do hawks look so mad?

The members of the family Accipitridae (hawks and eagles) have a bony shield over the eyes that make them look fierce. This is to shield the eyes from the sun when they are hunting. Falcons and ospreys don't have this.
Hawks and other birds of prey look soo cool, someone should tell them they make us feel patriotic because they're so cool. I feel sorry for field mice, cause those hawks have hawk eyes which see far and aren't happy.

Brookie deleted comments from this topic. Classy. [1] —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 68.123.47.73 (talk) 23:57, 16 April 2007 (UTC).

What I actually removed was silly vandalism. Brookie :) - a will o' the wisp ! ^(Whisper...) 15:14, 17 April 2007 (UTC)

No, vandalism is pageblanking or changing someone else's statement on a talkpage. What you removed was a contribution th o the discussion that 72.187.254.238 started (later vandalized by 67.183.188.92). By your standard, you should have removed the whole thread, not just the comment that you personally judged drivelous. 68.121.151.39 03:01, 18 April 2007 (UTC)

You better see [2] to learn what's vandalism, baby. Posting a comment to a talkpage is NOT IT. 68.121.151.39 03:04, 18 April 2007 (UTC)

I am not an expert or an avid observer, but to day I witnessed at least 30 or more red tail hawks gather as turkey vultures would.They came in from all directions including from diving obove. It was amazing! I live in a small town north of Barie Ontario and the weather was calm but hot.There were witnesses that can verify the gathering.Has anyone ever seen this type of activity?please e back THNX ED>>> —Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.228.2.51 (talk) 02:32, 21 September 2007 (UTC)

They are no threat to your dogs.

As a Falconer, I have flown 3 RedTails. 2 of them where large females, but even then the largest was only 1800 grams. My conversion abilities arent that great, but that ammounts to roughly 4 lbs. Not only are they no threat to your dogs, they have trouble carrying a live squirrle, much less a 15lb dog.

As for why they look mean, my own un-scientific opinion is the shape of thier head infront of thier eyes. The rely on eyesight to catch prey, so thier face has evolved to give a very un-obstructed view. It also looks intimidating. I'd also add that they look mean because they are mean. Even my favorite bird "Jack" would bite and "foot" as often as not. Like my Falconry mentor once told me "No matter how long you have had him, no matter how tame he seems, if he could hold you down and eat you he would".

PEACE —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Kelenskiovich (talk • contribs) 03:27, 5 December 2006 (UTC).

As a falconer myself as well... It's not entirely true that they "are no threat to your dog". Its not likely to be a threat, but they can kill very small dogs, they don't need to carry them, just kill them and start eating. Again, it is not common. But it can and probably has happened, at least anecdotally. Red-tails have killed turkeys, geese, opossum and skunks. Animals the size of and larger than the smaller dogs. Typically they don't want to tangle with other predators, but again, the point is we can't say they are "no threat", only unlikely. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 174.21.239.107 (talk) 23:53, 14 April 2016 (UTC)

Mascot?

Is the list of colleges that the Red-tailed hawk is a mascot of necessary to the article, or can I remove it? Jude 20:03, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

• I would prefer to leave it. I watch this page because the mascot for my former high school is the RTH (substituting for "Indians" after 1990). In fact, I just borrowed a picture from the gallery a few days ago to use on the high school page. It's better to have a well-maintained list in an appropriate section than to have school kids or old grads adding mascot information willy nilly. If the list ever gets too long, it could be moved to a separate page.--Hjal 03:17, 15 June 2007 (UTC)

It's inappropriate and trivial for the article on the species. My school's mascot was the raven, but that doesn't mean it deserves to be mentioned on Common Raven (it doesn't even rate a mention on the school's page). That the Red-tail is used as a mascot in some highschools is maybe worth mentioning; an incomplete list of teh ones that do isn't. Sabine's Sunbird talk 03:41, 15 June 2007 (UTC)

Note that I did not add my high school. It is not trivial that a species is selected as a mascot--although many species are chosen, many more are not. It says something meaningful about the way hawks are viewed in American culture (and, pehaps, in others) that they are chosen as mascots, while swallows, mergansers, and great blue herons are not. It's also interesting that RTH is used as a mascot, rather than "Chickenhawks" or just the more common "Hawks," while Sharp-shinned hawk is not (I bet). And why ask for a discussion and then cut it off so fast? I'll add the information back as linked text after looking for some more examples.--Hjal 17:26, 15 June 2007 (UTC)

I never said you added your school. And like I said, that some schools pick RTHs as their mascot my just be untrivial enough to mention, which specifc schools do so is beyond trivial. It doesn't tell you anything important that it is the mascot of XYZ High and NMB High and JJK College. Mention it at the school pages, not here. Sabine's Sunbird talk 22:14, 15 June 2007 (UTC)

Hawks eat catfish?

The listed reference does not mention anything about hawks eating catfish. Catfish are benthic. Hawks are not divers.

I've added two reference that discuss hawks eating catfish. The The Audubon Society Encyclopedia of North American Birds says that it will eat "catfish and carp caught at edge of water". You're absolutely right, though, that a Red-tailed Hawk wouldn't(and couldn't) dive to capture one from the bottom of a pond. --Jude 13:57, 19 June 2007 (UTC)

this is actually a quite common technique for several raptors, especially if the fish are injured or otherwise vulnerable. I think Bald Eagle, White-tailed Eagle and Black Kite will all do this. Jimfbleak 14:31, 19 June 2007 (UTC)

• I don't know about other hawks, but the Red-tailed Hawks of Cape Cod Massachusetts are most definitely "divers"; I've seen them do it. It was at the Sea Street Beach in Hyannis. A hawk flew out of the nearby watershed area, circled above the beach once, and then dove straight down into the water - and came up and flew away with what appeared to be a sunfish! It was near dusk, and one of the most amazing things I've ever seen in my life. I was completely submerged for about a full second, and seemed to struggle a bit getting itself up and out of the water. I thought it was going to come down and attack one of the nearby seagulls swimming just beyond the surf, but it dove into an open area of water about 20 feet from shore and came up with a fish. It immediately flew back into the watershed.

  How deep can they dive? I have no idea. But the hawk I saw definitely did dive. Mespinola 14:34, 4 October 2007 (UTC)

English?

Why is the ref section littered with English? I can see the point of flagging up (unbolded) a non-English source, but I expect en-wiki refs to be in en unless otherwise stated. Jimfbleak 06:45, 28 June 2007 (UTC)

Photograph - Not a Red-tailed Hawk

The image labeled "Immature hawk, with barring on tail" is an accipiter and not a Red-tailed Hawk. Bcacace 20:48, 8 August 2007 (UTC)

I removed the image.--Jude. 21:07, 8 August 2007 (UTC)

Photograph - Description might be incorrect

The two photos labeled "Taken in Waltham, MA. Probably full-grown female" looks more likely to be an immature red-tailed hawk. You can tell by the tails lack of red coloration and the feathers on the back and breast are generally darker on a haggard (full-grown) red-tailed hawk. I might be wrong, but that's what it looks like to me.. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jackyyll (talk • contribs) 01:33, 15 November 2007 (UTC)

GA Review

I have reviewed this article according to the Good Article criteria and have passed the article. It is very comprehensive, well-written, stable, and well sourced. Good job to the contributors who have made this such a nice article. The only nitpick that I'd mention is that the lead section is a bit too lengthy; three paragraphs would be ideal and trim out some of the information that is a verbatim cut-and-paste from the main body. In my experience, as soon as you do trim it down, someone else will come along and claim that the lead is too short, so take the advice with a grain of salt. Good job! Neil916 (Talk) 06:13, 9 August 2007 (UTC)

Now, many years later, I do not think this is the article that was once reviewed. It is certainly not currently "well-written", it is very messy and turgid. And incredibly over-long (or so disorganized it seems to be). Huw Powell (talk) 04:07, 20 June 2024 (UTC)

GA Sweeps (Pass)

This article has been reviewed as part of Wikipedia:WikiProject Good articles/Project quality task force. I believe the article currently meets the criteria and should remain listed as a Good article. The article history has been updated to reflect this review. Regards, Corvus coronoides _talk 00:13, 18 October 2007 (UTC)

I would agree, except for the part which states that the Red-tailed Hawk won't aggressively defend it's nest. This is baloney!! I can tell you from personal experience that you are likely to be injured if you get too close to a nest that contains young. Stating that the hawk is more likely to flee constitutes very dangerous advice. An adult Red-tailed Hawk with young is not something to take lightly. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 161.19.64.5 (talk) 17:17, 12 June 2009 (UTC)

How big is a red-tailed hawk's territory?

I was wondering if anyone knew how much territory a red-tailed hawk needs for hunting.

I live near Central Park in New York and frequently see Pale Male. I was wondering why there aren't more hawks when prey like rats, squirrels and pigeons are abundant. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.203.102.203 (talk) 15:23, 9 December 2007 (UTC)

Flight capabilities / characteristics

Has anyone else ever heard of a Red Tail cruising FL 300? (Flight Level 30,000 feet). Maybe Wave Soaring? <— (Rockies or Andes or Himalayas sort of Wave Soaring). I'm trying to track down that reference...

Google did send me to Stanford U for a reference to a skein of geese over Ireland at FL 290 (http://www.stanford.edu/group/stanfordbirds/text/essays/How_Fast.html); both pinged on primary radar and visually confirmed by an airline pilot (since geese don't pack transponders)... A great friend's a pilot flying for a major; and I was asking him what a surefire cruising alt is to avoid birdstike. Ergo the Q. Manueluribe (talk) 21:26, 20 April 2008 (UTC)

about red tail hawks

DESCRIPTION: the largest —Preceding unsigned comment added by 63.84.180.61 (talk) 02:58, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

Falconry

I think falconry should be separated from this page. This page should be about the species and it's characteristics, not what humans do to it. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Phreed100 (talk • contribs) 12:34, 16 July 2009 (UTC)

Web Cam

I've added the Portland, OR "Raptor-Cam" to External links. It's up, running (probably through May 2010), live and at last look there were 3 eggs incubating. The accompanying blog is hosted by Bob Sallinger of the local Audubon Society, who really seems to know his stuff. Anyhow, since the Tulsa cam appears to be kaput for the season, and the Pale Male site seems mostly devoted to selling T-shirts, thought this might be a useful addition. DodgerDean (talk) 21:08, 17 March 2010 (UTC)

still a "good article"?

last review was in 2007. in addition to mere time lapse, there have been some 600+ edits since last review.

when reviewing, please include assessment on article's coverage of disposition of non-viable (non-hatched) eggs from the nest. would expect coverage under two scenarios – (1) no eggs hatch; and (2) some hatch; some do not; article currently is silent on this topic.

i added "subst:GAR", but believe it won't process because i am not a registered user (and operate in a non-cookie/non-registration environment).--96.232.126.111 (talk) 10:46, 20 May 2011 (UTC)

Ok. Will take a look later. Casliber (talk · contribs) 11:05, 20 May 2011 (UTC)

Longevity?

In the article, it is stated that Red-tailed Hawks can live to at least 21 years in the wild. In the article about the individual "Pale Male", it is stated that he was "born" in 1990, making him 24 years of age when I read the article in march 2014. Does he not count as wild, due to living close to so many people? 80.217.2.106 (talk) 09:25, 22 March 2014 (UTC)

External links modified

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I get "there is a problem with this file" in MS Reader on Win8. [3] Pelagic (talk) 20:12, 25 February 2016 (UTC)

External links modified

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Good edit, but original source isn't dead yet. I have set deadurl=no. (Though the archived version doesn't crash my web browser the way Salon does.) Pelagic (talk) 19:58, 25 February 2016 (UTC)

Buteo cooperi

Stumbled on this whilst looking for something else by Ridgway:

• Ridgway, Robert (July 1884). "On the possible specific identity of Buteo cooperi Cass. with B. harlani (Aud.)". The Auk. 1: 253–254.

which suggests that Buteo cooperi Cassin 1856 is a junior synonym of Falco harlani Audubon 1830.

And I wonder whether there is there any value in including this kind of short-lived C19th synonym in the article? If I add it to the Synonyms section of the taxobox, what's the best way to indicate that it's a synonym of the harlani race?

Pelagic (talk) 00:03, 10 April 2016 (UTC)

I hope you did not. Huw Powell (talk) 04:02, 20 June 2024 (UTC)

Subspecies

Giving everyone the heads up that I refactored the (excellent) subspecies section into 14 individual articles. This not only improves readability and navigation, compared to the previous long block of text, but also allows individual subspecies to have their own taxobox, common English name as a title, and most importantly direct mappings to Wikidata items, which in turn allows them to be linked to external repositories and databases such as GBIF, Avibase, iNat. Next I'll tackle the category structure on Commons and hope to have soon high-quality images for each (or most) subspecies sourced from iNaturalist.--DarTar (talk) 14:55, 30 March 2020 (UTC)

Wing loading

The wing loading for red-tailed hawk given as 199 g/ cm2 is wrong by over 2 orders of magnitude. It would result in a 460kg/1,000 lb mass for a bird. The actual figure should be about 0.6 g/cm2, consistent with 1,300 g/ 2.9 lb for a large female. Gmenut (talk) 15:33, 20 September 2021 (UTC)

Improvement

Very comprehensive article, but some parts are hard to read with long run-on paragraphs. Aythya affinis (talk) 16:54, 11 January 2022 (UTC)

I just read the lead section's first paragraph and it is all over the map. It spends half its time talking about diversity of habitat, but not in an organized, coherent, and informative way (and in its own section). I'm guessing a lot of this article has drifted into that "I want to put this sentence in the middle of that paragraph" style of writing? Good information but I think one has to read too much of it to find the bits one wants.

Yes, like the diet section. Its first paragraph goes from a useful sentence that could be followed by three or four more, but instead the next thing we are getting buried in weird statistics. The second paragraph is worse, wandering off into "barely English sentences" as it trips over itself trying to add more and more undirected information to one sentence. The information is good, but the writing is not as tight as it could, and probably should, be. Just some thoughts. Huw Powell (talk) 03:38, 20 June 2024 (UTC)

"Interspecies predatory relationships" is simply painful to read. The information comes slowly, is turgidly uninteresting, and barely relates to their diet. Much of this article should probably be a book the avid student reads. This article, however, reads like a very bad research paper written by that student, with no sense of organization, just facts and footnotes piled up and presented in a barely-organized order. It's almost like someone regurgitated a chapter of a book on hawks - or minor academic paper, undergraduate level - into this article.

I leave it feeling like I know no more than I entered knowing, but not really liking the topic any more. Huw Powell (talk) 04:01, 20 June 2024 (UTC)

Featured picture scheduled for POTD

Hello! This is to let editors know that File:Buteo jamaicensis in flight at Llano Seco-1520.jpg, a featured picture used in this article, has been selected as the English Wikipedia's picture of the day (POTD) for August 31, 2024. A preview of the POTD is displayed below and can be edited at Template:POTD/2024-08-31. For the greater benefit of readers, any potential improvements or maintenance that could benefit the quality of this article should be done before its scheduled appearance on the Main Page. If you have any concerns, please place a message at Wikipedia talk:Picture of the day. Thank you!  — Amakuru (talk) 07:44, 17 August 2024 (UTC)

The red-tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) is a bird of prey that breeds throughout most of North America, from the interior of Alaska and northern Canada to as far south as Panama and the West Indies. It occupies a wide range of habitats and altitudes, including deserts, grasslands, forests, agricultural fields, and urban areas. Red-tailed hawks are opportunistic generalists and their diet is variable. In North America, they are most often predators of small mammals such as rodents. Prey that is terrestrial and at least partially diurnal is preferred, so types such as ground squirrels are preferred where they naturally occur. The bird is legally protected in Canada and Mexico, and in the United States by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918. This red-tailed hawk in flight was photographed at the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge in California.

Photograph credit: Frank Schulenburg

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