Hawks are amazing birds that are an incredibly important part of the eco system. They are also widely variable in terms of species as they can be highly specialized for the regions and habitats that they reside in. With so many different hawks living in North America, learning hawks can be a bit overwhelming but it helps if you start with a few key species before diving deeper. Here are five common hawk species that you should know.

Number 1: Red-tailed Hawk

To learn hawks, we first have to learn the most common and widespread hawk in the United States. The Red-tailed Hawk, red tailed hawks are somehow both incredibly simple to identify and also insanely difficult. The trouble comes from something called morphs which are essentially different color variations. The base form that most people are familiar with has a brown back and wings, light underside with darker markings often referred to as a belly band, and of course a reddish orange tail. Sounds easy enough, but then there are light morph varieties, dark morph varieties, varieties with no red tail at all, and everything in between. I could do an entire video just on the different red tailed hawk varieties, but essentially it’s important to know that if you find a hawk that doesn’t look like a typical red tailed hawk, red tailed hawk may actually still be the correct identification. In terms of range, as I said, red tailed hawks are some the most widespread hawk in the United States, residing in pretty much the entirety of the continental US for the whole year. They do have migrations with Canada and Alaska being a breeding season location and parts of Mexico and Central America being a wintering location. Look for these birds soaring up in the sky, riding thermals and moving in a circular pattern as well as in open spaces. A place I see them often is along large roads like free ways where they use the cleared space for hunting. They also like edge habitat where they can sit on high perches and survey for food. Their diet consists mostly of larger animals, especially mammals such as rabbits. They will also eat medium to large sized birds and reptiles.

Number 2: Coopers Hawk/Sharp-shinned Hawk

Next is another extremely widespread hawk, Cooper Hawks might be the hawks that people encounter most due to the fact that they spend so much time around parks and backyards. They have a grayish blue back and wings, grayish blue cap on their head and a peach colored underside. Immature birds look quite different with dark brown replacing their blue back and wings as well as brown stripes replacing their rusty orange chest. They reside throughout the continental United States with a bit of a northern and southern migratory range that expands into Canada and Mexico. Cooper’s Hawks reside in places with many trees such as forests, parks, and suburbs. They are highly maneuverable and have no qualms about flying through tight spaces to hunt for food. Their diet consists mostly of small to medium sized birds but they will also eat small mammals as well. 

In addition to the Cooper’s Hawk there is another bird that looks extremely similar and for that reason is always linked to Cooper’s Hawks, and that’s the Sharp Shinned Hawk. As I said, these two birds are extremely similar looking, we do have a video on the nuances of that identification that I’ll put in the description if you want to see it, but overall, the colors are basically identical in both adults and juveniles. For range, Sharp-shinned Hawks overlap in a lot of places with Cooper’s Hawks but Sharp-shinned Hawks migrate more than Cooper’s Hawks do including moving all the way into Alaska. It’s also worth noting that they can be found year round in parts of South America as well. For habitat and diet, they live in similar areas as Cooper’s Hawks and also eat mostly birds. These two birds are together in one spot on the list because if you can at least identify a hawk as  one of the two species that’s a great start, and both are common around the country.

Number 3: Red Shouldered Hawk

Red-shouldered Hawks might just be the most beautiful hawk species in North America. There are a few different color schemes depending on the subspecies but generally, they have a dark brown back with darker brown to black feathers mixed as well, they have a rusty red underside along with a reddish marking on their shoulders which is where they get their name from. They have a black and white banded tail and in flight they show black on their wing edges and diagnostic crescent patterns on the wing tips. It’s worth noting that other hawks can show these as well so it shouldn’t be used as the only feature to note. Immature birds look very similar to red tailed hawks with a brown back and wings, white underside, and dark markings on the chest. Red-shouldered Hawks have a very strange range in my opinion, they live year round in the southeastern part of the United States, move into the midwest and northeastern part of the United State sin summer and south into Mexico into winter. The weird part though is that they also live year round in western California, Baja California and southwestern Oregon, however, they don’t regularly inhabit the rest of the western US. Red-shouldered Hawks can be going in forested areas as well as swamps and some suburban areas as well. They feed on small mammals as well as other invertebrates that live in their habitat such as lizards, and snakes. They will also eat birds as well.

Number 4: Broad-winged Hawk

The first bird on our list with a more specific range, Broad-winged hawks have a brown back, wings, and head, lighter brown colored chest, and white underside with brown markings. In flight, they show dark edges to their wings and dark bands on their tail. These birds have a highly variable diet ,eating many different small animals including mammals, birds, insects, reptiles, and amphibians. Broad-winged hawks are long distance migrants, wintering as far south as northern south America and then ending up as far north as south eastern Canada. It’s also worth noting that they are birds of the eastern part of the continent so if you’re in the western part of the US it’s unlikely you’ll be seeing this particular bird. If you do live in Broad-winged Hawk range, look for them in forests near edges and openings as well as near bodies of water. The way most people see them is during their migration in which they perform what is probably the most amazing spectacle in all north america birds of prey. Broad winged hawks gather together in hundreds, sometimes even thousands of birds and migrate together in swirling groups riding thermals as they go. 

Number 5: Swainson’s Hawk

With the Broad-Winged Hawk serving as the long distance migrating hawk species of the west, I would say the Swainson’s Hawk is the wests entry into this category. Swainson’s Hawks have a brown, back, wings, and head, a cream to white colored body, and striped tail. One of their most defining features is the chestnut to brown bib marking on their chest with a well defined border between the rest of their light underside. Swainson’s Hawks spend the summer in the western United States, northern Mexico, and western Canada. They migrate even longer distance broad winged hawks do, going from their summer range all the way down to southern south America and back each year. Look for Swainson’s Hawks in open areas like fields, grasslands, and even agricultural fields where you can see them perched up on structures like scattered trees and fence posts. Their diet varies depending on the  time of year. During breeding season they eat mostly mammals with other vertebrates mixed in as well such as lizards and snakes. During non-breeding season they switch to eating mostly insects.

There are many different hawks species that live in the United States, but knowing these five (or six) birds can be a massive help when out in the field. If you enjoyed this post, take a look at another of our posts on birds and birding and as always, thanks for reading this post by Badgerland Birding.