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
