Red-tailed Hawk
Scientific name: Buteo jamaicensis
Family name: Accipitridae

Are they endangered? No, it is not endangered. (IUCN Red list: Least concern.)    

What are their past/present problems?  Humans are their enemy because they shoot them even though it is against the law to do that.  Sometimes cars hit them and kill them. 

What do they look like?  Red-tailed Hawks can look different since there are five kinds.  A common kind has a dark brown back with feathers that have white tips.  Its tail is red with a little white at the edges.  Its chest is brown and its belly is white with brown spots.  Its legs are yellow.

How big are they? These birds are between 19 and 25 inches long.  If their wings were spread out flat, they would stretch to about 5 feet wide. 
How many eggs do they lay? The female lays 2 or 3 white eggs once a year.  They hatch in about a month
How long do the fledglings stay in the nest?  Red-tailed Hawks build stick nests on buildings, where two limbs meet on a tree, or on cliffs.  The young birds stay in the nest for 6 weeks.
When do they hunt?  They hunt during the day. (diurnal) 
What do they eat?  Red-tailed Hawks eat small birds, bats, MICE, spiders, insects, fish, and amphibians.  They will grab their small prey and take it to their perch but eat bigger stuff on the ground.
Where do they live?  Canada, Mexico, Central America, The Caribbean Islands, and the U.S.
What kind of place do they like to live in?  They live in forests, open plains, shrub lands and deserts that are next to forests.
Interesting facts:
They have lots of nests, switching between them each year.
They migrate to find places where there is more prey.
Their eyesight is much better than a human’s.
They can be found perched on billboards, utility poles, and dead tree tops along the highways looking for food.  This habit increases their chances of being killed by a car.
They will steal food from other birds.

Works Cited:

Alsop, Fred.  Birds of North America.  New York:  DK Publishing, 2001.

Buteo jamaicensis. 19 Dec. 2007.  <http://www.iucnredlist.org/search/details.php/49438/all>.

Red-tailed hawk.  5 Oct. 2007.  <http://www.peregrinefund/Explore_Raptors/hawks/redtail.html>.

Red-tailed hawk.  23 Oct 2007.  <http://www.desertusa.com/aug96/du_hawk.html>