Wildwood Zoo

Meet the Red-tailed Hawks at Wildwood Zoo

 red tailed hawk

We have two Red-tailed Hawks at the zoo.  One is named Jack, and in June 2010, we added a female named Jill.  They share their home with the rough-legged hawks at the zoo. You can tell them apart from the other hawks by their reddish colored tails. Jack enjoys perching higher in the exhibit and is usually spotted up on the high perches.  Jill has more brown coloring on her head and neck.

Red-tailed hawks are a large hawk common to most of the United States.  Red-tails have about a 4-foot wingspan and weigh between two and three pounds.  Red-tailed hawks are “generalist” feeders.  This means that they will eat almost anything they can catch.  They will eat small and medium-sized birds, mammals, and rabbits.  

Like most raptor species, red-tailed hawks display “sexual size dimorphism”.  Sexual size dimorphism means that the female birds are larger than the males.  There are several different theories as to why female raptors are bigger than males, but one single reason has yet to be identified.

Red-tailed Hawk Range in North America
map red tailed hawk 
For more information, please visit Desert USA

More Information
Meet the Kodiak Bears
Meet the Mountain Lions
Meet the Canada Lynx
Meet the Timber Wolves
Meet the White-tailed Deer
Meet the American Bison
Meet the American Elk
Meet the Bighorn Sheep
Meet the Bald Eagle
Meet the Great Horned Owl
Meet the Red-tailed Hawk
Meet the Rough-legged Hawk
Meet the Peregrine Falcon
Meet the Black-tailed Prairie Dogs
Meet the Rabbits
Meet the Fox
Meet the Sandhill Cranes
Meet the Screech Owl
Meet the Turkey Vulture
Meet the Mute Swan
Meet the Wild Turkey
Meet the Non-Resident Animals