Red tail hawks are one of the most widely distributed and common hawks in North America. They can be found across most of the United States, southern Canada, and even down into parts of Central America. Red tails occupy a variety of habitats from coast to coast, including woods, deserts, fields, cities, and suburbs. Here is an overview of where red tail hawks make their homes.
Geographic Range
The red tail hawk has an exceptionally wide geographic range across North America. Their breeding grounds stretch across almost all of the continental United States. They are found as far north as central Alaska and northern Canada. Their range extends south through Central America into Panama. Along the Pacific Coast, red-tails are found from southern Alaska to Panama. On the Atlantic Coast side, they range from Nova Scotia to Florida and into the Gulf Coast region. They are absent only from the extreme northern reaches of Canada and Alaska and from the tropical rainforests of southern Mexico and Central America.
Within this broad geographic range, red tail hawks occupy many different habitats and elevations. From sea level up to 12,000 feet in elevation in mountainous areas, red tails have adapted to make a wide variety of areas their home. They are highly tolerant of human activity and will readily nest in urban and suburban areas.
Western North America
In western North America, red tail hawks are found throughout the west coast from Alaska to Panama. They can be found year-round along the entire length of the Pacific Coast. Their range extends east throughout the Rocky Mountains, Great Basin, and into the southwestern deserts. Red tails occupy habitats including temperate rainforests in the Pacific Northwest, high mountain forests and meadows, desert canyons and scrublands, grasslands, and mixed woodlands. Some key areas where red tail hawks live in western North America include:
- Pacific Northwest – Common year-round resident across Washington, Oregon, northern California, and southern British Columbia. Occupies coastal forests, woodlands, and urban areas.
- California – Year-round resident across the entire state. Found in diverse habitats including coastal bluffs, oak woodlands, chaparral, desert oases, urban areas, and the high Sierra Nevada mountains.
- Desert Southwest – Year-round resident of the Mojave, Sonoran, and Chihuahuan Desert regions. Nests in saguaro cacti, canyon cliffs, and scrublands.
- Rocky Mountains – Summer and year-round resident across the Rocky Mountains. Breeds in mountains, foothills, and high plains across an elevational range from 3,000 to 12,000 feet.
- Southwest Canada – Summer breeding resident of southwestern British Columbia east of the Coast Mountains and southern Alberta.
Central United States and Midwest
Red tail hawks live across the vast central plains, midwestern prairies, and forested eastern regions of the United States and southern Canada. They are found year-round throughout the central plains and Midwest in open country, woodlands, and urban areas. Some key habitats where red tails occur in the central U.S. and Canada include:
- Great Plains Grasslands – Year-round resident across the grasslands and agricultural areas from Texas to Montana.
- Midwestern Prairies – Year-round resident across prairie farmlands, open oak savannas, and urban areas.
- Eastern Deciduous Forests – Year-round resident across open forests, farmlands, wetlands, and urban areas.
- Northern Boreal Forests – Summer breeding resident across central Canada’s boreal forest region from Manitoba to northern Alberta.
Eastern North America
Along the eastern third of North America, red tail hawks live year-round from Florida to Nova Scotia. They occupy areas along the Atlantic Coast, Gulf Coast, eastern forests, and urban centers. Some key habitats red tails occupy in eastern North America include:
- Atlantic Coast – Year-round resident along the Atlantic Coast from Florida to Maine.
- Gulf Coast – Year-round resident across the Gulf Coast region from Florida to Texas.
- Appalachian Mountains – Breeding zones extend along the Appalachian Mountain chain from Georgia to New York.
- New England and Maritime Canada – Summer breeding resident across New England, upstate New York and southern Quebec, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia.
Habitats
Within their wide geographic range across North America, red tail hawks live in diverse habitats from coast to coast. They are highly adaptable birds of prey and make their homes in many different natural and human-modified environments.
Woodlands
Red tails occupy a wide range of forest and woodland habitats across North America. They frequent open deciduous, coniferous, and mixed forests with clearings and edge habitat. Oak savannas, boreal forests, maple-beech forests, and riparian woodlands along waterways are used by red tails throughout their range.
Deserts and Scrublands
In arid environments, red tail hawks occupy canyons, cliff faces, pi??on-juniper woodlands, sagebrush steppes, chaparral, and desert scrub habitats. Throughout the desert Southwest and Great Basin, red tails frequent desert oases with tall saguaro cacti that provide nesting sites.
Mountains
Red tail hawks thrive across a wide range of mountain elevations and habitats. They breed along the Rocky Mountains, Sierra Nevada, Cascades, Appalachians, and other ranges from 3,000 to 12,000 feet in elevation. Alpine meadows, cliffs, open montane forests, and foothills are used by red tails.
Grasslands
Across the Great Plains grasslands, Midwest prairies, and savanna regions, red tails frequent open grassy habitats with scattered trees. Fence posts and lone trees provide perches for hunting the abundant small mammals of grassland environments.
Wetlands
Along rivers, lakes, marshes, and coastal shorelines, red tail hawks nest and hunt in adjacent riparian areas. Shoreline trees, snags, and cliffs provide nesting sites with abundant ducks, rabbits, rodents, and fish nearby.
Agricultural Areas
Red tail hawks thrive in agricultural areas across North America. They nest and perch in scattered trees in crop fields, pastures, and ranch lands. Grain fields, hay meadows, and livestock operations provide ample prey sources of small rodents and birds.
Urban/Suburban
From inner cities to suburban neighborhoods, red tail hawks are common urban adapters. They nest on ledges of tall buildings, communication towers, and urban parks. An abundance of pigeons, rats, and squirrels provide ample food even in densely populated cities.
Habitat Preferences by Region
The habitats that red tail hawks occupy can vary across different regions of North America based on local climate, topography, vegetation, and availability of nesting sites/prey. Here are some of the key habitats used regionally:
Region | Key Habitats |
---|---|
Northeast | Deciduous and mixed forests, wetlands, old fields, urban areas |
Southeast | Pine-oak woodlands, cypress swamps, mangroves, urban areas |
Midwest | Deciduous forests, prairies, agricultural areas, urban areas |
Great Plains | Grasslands, agricultural areas with scattered trees |
Southwest | Chaparral, deserts, pi??on-juniper woodlands, scrublands |
Rocky Mountains | Montane forests, foothills, alpine meadows, cliffs |
Pacific Northwest | Coastal forests, mixed coniferous forests, urban areas |
Alaska and Canada | Boreal forests, aspen parklands, tundra |
Nesting Habitats
Red tail hawks nest in a variety of habitats and sites across their range. They mainly nest in large trees in open country, woodland edges, and human-modified landscapes. However, they will readily adapt to alternative nest sites on cliffs, bluffs, rocky outcrops, tall human-made structures, and sometimes the ground.
The most typical nest trees used by red tails include oaks, pines, eucalyptus, maples, cottonwoods, aspens, and Joshua trees. The height of nests can range from 10 feet up to 90 feet off the ground. Coastal populations often nest on sea cliffs or in the mangrove trees. Urban red tails may nest on ledges of tall buildings. Sheltered cliff ledges are used in some desert and mountainous areas.
Key Nesting Habitats
- Open woodlands
- Woodland edges and clearings
- Lone trees in open country (pastures, fields)
- Riparian areas along rivers and lakes
- Sea cliffs and coastal bluffs
- Human-made structures (cell towers, billboards, ledges of tall buildings)
- Canyon and mountain cliff ledges
- Joshua trees and giant saguaro cacti in deserts
Range Maps
These range maps illustrate the breeding, year-round, and wintering ranges of the red tail hawk across North America.
Breeding Range
This map shows the red tail hawk’s breeding range across almost all of North America from Alaska and Canada south to Panama.
Year-Round Range
Red tail hawks live year-round across much of the lower 48 United States, southern Canada, Mexico, and Central America.
Wintering Range
During winter, red tail hawks withdraw somewhat from the northern portions of their breeding range in Canada. But they remain widespread across most of the lower 48 states.
Territory Size
A red tail hawk pair’s territory size can vary considerably based on habitat type and prey availability. Average home ranges are estimated between .25 square miles to 9 square miles. In areas of abundant prey like California grasslands, a pair’s territory may be less than 1 square mile. In sparser prey habitats like southwestern deserts, territories up to 5-9 square miles have been observed. The proximity of other red tail nests also influences the size of a given pair’s territory as they maintain appropriate spacing between breeding sites.
Population and Conservation Status
The red tail hawk has an extremely large population estimated at over 2 million individuals across North America. Partners in Flight estimates a breeding population of about 1.5 million red tails in the United States and Canada alone. Their numbers appear stable or even increasing over the past few decades. The red tail is evaluated as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List due to its huge range and stable population.
In certain regions, suburban sprawl and habitat loss have reduced local breeding numbers and fitness somewhat. However, red tails remain common to abundant across virtually all of their widespread breeding range. Their adaptability enables them to occupy human-modified environments successfully. Intensive agricultural practices and rodent control likely reduce prey availability in some areas. Shooting, trapping, and pesticide poisoning have also killed some red tails. But due to their high reproduction rates, these mortalities are not significantly impacting overall populations.
Ongoing conservation practices that can benefit red tail hawks include:
- Preserving suitable nesting trees and habitat patches in developed areas
- Reducing rodenticide use in urban and agricultural areas
- Limiting use of lead ammunition in hunting
- Enforcing regulations prohibiting harassment or shooting of raptors
The adaptability and resilience of the widespread red tail hawk ensures this iconic raptor remains common across the diverse North American landscapes it calls home.
Conclusion
The red tail hawk is one of the most adaptable and successful raptors across North America. This common buteo thrives across an incredibly diverse range of habitats from coast to coast. Red tails can be found living in forests, deserts, mountains, grasslands, wetlands, urban areas, and virtually every other habitat between southern Canada and Panama. They build nests in trees, on cliffs, or even on human-made structures. A stable population of over 2 million red tail hawks populates North America with their numbers remaining strong. Though habitat loss and pesticides impact some local populations, the red tail’s ability to occupy human-modified environments ensures this hawk remains secure and widespread across its range into the future.