How to Identify a Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis)

• Tail: Adult: tail reddish above, whitish below, the color showing through in flight overhead; juvenile tail brown above with dark bars
• Body pattern: East of the Mississippi, most birds show a white chest and a dark 'belly-band' of streaks across the belly
• Flight silhouette: Bulky and broad-winged, built for effortless soaring
• Underwing: In flight overhead, the leading edge of the inner wing (patagial mark) looks contrastingly dark
• Size: Female 19-26 in, 45-52 in wingspan, 32-52 oz; Male 17-22 in, 45-52 in wingspan, 24-46 oz

Red-tailed Hawk is bulkier with broader wings and a reddish adult tail with a dark patagial mark on the underwing, while Red-shouldered Hawk is smaller with narrow black-and-white banded flight feathers/tail and a pale crescent near the wingtip The Red-shouldered Hawk page lists its own marks.

Open country, woodlands, prairie groves, mountains, plains, and roadsides; any terrain offering open ground for hunting plus high perches Found throughout North America year-round across most regions, with northern populations migrating south seasonally

Raptors are usually far away and against the sky, so expose for the bird, not the sky, and take several frames as it turns: the tail shape, wing shape and underwing pattern show best in flight. For a perched bird, get the head and chest in one frame. Size is hard to judge alone; compare with a nearby crow, gull or fence post. The app names the likely species; confirm with the marks above.