The Red-Tailed Hark in this picture was admitted on May 30th as a young orphaned hawk. This hawk would not have been able to survive in the wild on its own. Now it has gained a substantial amount of size and will soon be soft released.
The Red-Tailed Hawk scientific name “Buteo Jamaicensis” has a very wide range from Alaska and Canada throughout North America and occasionally found as far south as Panama. This species of hawk gets its name from the red feathers found on its tail which come in after they mature around the age of 3-4 years old. These are one of the larger hawks from North America with a wingspan of 43-57 but also one of the most common raptors in North America. Red-Tailed Hawks display sexual dimorphism in size, with females averaging much larger. Due to their large population and that they can easily be trained to hunt the Red-Tailed hawks are often captured by falconers to be trained and hunted.
-Jackson Hoit, Student Intern