Birds of the Upper Cumberland Region: Species Accounts

Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis)

Red-tailed Hawk [ventral view of adult]: Photograph Credit: Rickey Shive; Metcalfe County, Kentucky; 24 February 2019.

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Abundance: Fairly Common at all seasons but less so during the breeding season and more so during winter; recorded in all Regional counties (Map of UCR Distribution); data from the Regional bird-monitoring efforts indicate that the population breeding in the Region is probably stable (see also Regional Bird-Monitoring Plan).

Status: Permanent Resident; photograph [probable immature B. j. borealis] (Stephen J. Stedman; Lakeland Dr., Putman County, Tennessee; 7 December 2012).

Regional High Count and CBC/CBB High Count: 65 (28 December 2004; DeKalb County, Tennessee [CBC], m. ob.; and 21 December 2004; White County, Tennessee [CBC]; m. ob.); SBC/SBB High Count: 33 (8 May 2010; Putnam County, Tennessee [SBC]; m. ob.); FBC/FBB High Count: 25 (18 September 2004; Putnam County, Tennessee [FBC]; m. ob.; and 4 October 2008; White County, Tennessee [FBC]; m. ob.; and 25 September 2010; DeKalb County [FBB]; m. ob.).

Breeding: Confirmed (Recent). 

Habitat: The Red-tail is a generalist in its prey selection, so its habitat selection is also somewhat general; fragmented habitats appear to suit its needs best, so unbroken mature forests have a lower density of this species than do the more fragmented habitats. Red-tails have adapted well to suburban and even urban areas where habitat for prey items, especially small mammals, has been left available.

YardWatch Results 2003 and 2004: Registered on 37 (of 125) monthly check-lists during 2003 and on 101 (of 206) check-lists during 2004, leading to a YardWatch frequency classification of Fairly Common each year; this YardWatch frequency classification is consistent with the overall Regional abundance classification.

Foray Results: A summary of data from UCR Forays follows (to view a map displaying foray data for a county or a sub-Region for this species, click on the name of an underlined county or state below):

* Because some foray blocks fall into two or three counties, the total of blocks in the Kentucky or Tennessee portions of the Region is less than the sum of the blocks in the counties of each portion of the Region; similarly, because some blocks fall into both states, the total of blocks for the Region is less than the sum of the blocks in the two states.

Remarks: Breeding Red-tails in the Region represent only one of the subspecies (and just one of the forms of that subspecies) of this raptor—B. j. borealis (standard [light] morph)—causing little difficulty for field observers, who do, however, need to become familiar with the juvenile plumage at that season.  Wheeler (2003) draws attention to two important facts associated with aging Red-tails: the yellow eye of the juvenile may persist into early adulthood and may not turn to dark brown for several years; and the gray-brown tail typical of most juveniles may be rufous in some of these, so judging age by eye color and/or tail color alone is inadvisable.  Other features of each individual need to be viewed before deciding if it is a juvenile or an adult.

    The plumages of Red-tails present Regionally during the non-breeding season, especially from late October through early April, are as complex as the breeding season plumages are simple.  First of all, the pale morph of B. j. borealis, the "Krider's" Red-tailed Hawk (no longer considered a subspecies), is present in small numbers during that period.

    Two subspecies—B. j. calurus and B. j. harlani—of Red-tailed Hawk from western North America are also present in quite small numbers in the Region during the non-breeding season.  Each of these western Red-tails occurs in three basic morphs—light, intermediate, and dark.  However, each of these western Red-tails also occurs in two additional intergrade morphs—light intermediate and dark intermediate.  In addition, all five of these morphs/intergrade morphs have both juvenile and adult versions, leading to considerable complexity in efforts to assign the correct age and morph to some individuals, especially dark morph ones, present in the Region during the winter months.

    Dark morph individuals of B. j. calurus and B. j. harlani are not only sometimes difficult to distinguish from one another, but they also bear considerable resemblance to dark morph Rough-legged Hawks (B. lagopus).  Indeed, a goodly percentage of the Regional records of dark morph Rough-legs is undoubtedly composed of misidentifications of dark morph western Red-tails.  Exactly what the percentage of misidentifications might be is probably not possible to determine from past records, but a sufficient number of such misidentifications have come to light to suggest that the percentage is large, not small.  Making a determined effort to see the feathered tarsi of dark morph Buteos suspected to be Rough-legs is almost a necessity if records about them are to be considered accurate.

Check-lists of Birds for the Counties of the UCR

Check-lists of the birds of each county of the Upper Cumberland Region may be viewed by clicking on the links below. For each county, there are two check-lists: one list that shows the species that have been observed and where possible documented in the county within the larger list for the entire Region; and one list that includes only the species observed in the county with annotations for the date and observers for at least one sighting (the ultimate goal of the latter list will be to include annotations for the very first known Regional observation of each species in that county; this goal is probably one that will take many years to complete, if completion is even a possibility). To see if the species discussed in this species account has been observed in a county, click below or click on the link for the Map of UCR Distribution near the top of the page.

Check-lists of Birds for Some Public Access Birding Sites of the UCR

Check-lists of the birds of some public access birding sites within the Upper Cumberland Region may be viewed via the links below. To see if the species dealt with in this species account has been observed within any of these sites, click on the appropriate link below. See the pages for each county within the Gazetteer for links to additional smaller public access birding sites with check-lists in progress.

Literature Cited