Dark Morph Red-tailed Hawk

Red-tailed Hawks are likely the most common hawk in North America. It is a large raptor with a stocky build. Females can be up to 26 inches (65 cm) long with a wingspan of 52 inches (133 cm). Most are a rich brown on the back with pale undersides that have a specked “cummerbund” pattern on the belly. This one was photographed in Lowell, Massachusetts.

There is a dark form in the western US that is chocolate brown with a dark underside. This one was sitting in a tree and scanning the open fields for a nice vole or rabbit. Photographed in Feb. 2024 at Bosque del Apache NWR, New Mexico.

The darker color and red tail are highlighted in this shot taken just as the hawk left its perch.

This is a closer look at the more common light morph Red-tail on the hunt. It was busy looking for a target so it ignored me and flew fairly close for a good action shot. This is a young bird as evidenced by the light colored tail. It would look red even from beneath in an adult. It was hunting over a snowy field in Salisbury, Massachusetts on New Year’s Day, 2018.