Hawks in Texas: Types, Behavior, and Habitat (2024)

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Hawks in Texas

Get ready to explore the world of hawks in Texas. From red-tailed hawks to white-tailed hawks, this Lone Star State is home to an impressive array of raptors. With their incredible vision and hearing, they are able to hunt with remarkable efficiency.

Although males and females have similar plumage, female hawks tend to be larger than their male counterparts. This article will closely examine the fifteen types of hawk species found in Texas, from physical characteristics and range to hunting behavior and habitat preferences, so you can better understand these powerful birds.

Red-Tailed Hawk

Greetings bird enthusiast! Let’s focus our binoculars on the iconic red-tailed hawk, one of Texas’ most recognizable raptors. With its distinctive rust-colored tail and expansive range across North America, this adaptable hawk can often be found soaring above open fields or perched on tree branches, watching for prey.

The red-tailed hawk is well-known for its shrill, piercing cry that sounds like kee-eeee-arrr. These powerful birds of prey have acute vision that helps them spot potential meals from high vantage points.

Red-tailed hawks are opportunistic hunters, feeding mainly on small mammals like mice or voles but also snatching up snakes, lizards, amphibians, and even other birds. They will aggressively defend their nesting territories from intruders. While variable in color, red-tailed hawks always have the reddish tail that gives them their name.

These majestic raptors can have a wingspan of up to 54 inches! Ranging over much of the continent and readily adapting to human presence, the widespread red-tailed hawk remains one of the most recognizable and resilient avian predators across North America.

Physical Characteristics and Range

You’ve surely seen the iconic red tail of this widespread raptor as it soars over fields and perches on poles, haven’t you?

• Distinctive brick-red tail
• Dark leading wing edges in flight
• Light belly with dark patagial bars
• Yellow legs/cere
• Found across North America

The Red-tailed Hawk shows great adaptability across habitats, from deserts to tropical rainforests, but avoids dense forest. Partial migrant, northern birds head south for winter while southern residents stay put.

With its resilience, characteristic red tail, and acrobatic aerial displays, this common raptor has captivated the fascination of many.

Unique Calls and Identification

The keen call piercing the sky signals a red-tailed hawk’s presence before you ever glimpse its trademark russet tail feathers. Identifying this buteo starts with learning its cries – the recognizable screech descending into a drawn-out keen.

Record and compare calls to distinguish lookalikes. Scan treetops and poles for broad-winged silhouettes and that namesake crimson tail. Master discerning a red-tail’s shriek by studying subtleties in pitch, tone, and duration.

Soon these raptors’ screams will act as your compass, guiding eyes to their domain across the Texas skies.

Sharp-shinned Hawk

As the smallest Accipiter hawk in North America, sharp-shinned hawks rely on swift surprise attacks to capture songbirds and other small prey. Though similar in size and shape to the larger Cooper’s hawk, you can distinguish sharp-shinned hawks by their relatively smaller heads, longer tails, and orange-barred underparts.

Hunting Behavior and Prey Preference

Investigating whether Sharp-shinned hawks really ambush songbirds within bushes reveals valuable insights into their elusive hunting behaviors. As the smallest hawk species in North America, Sharp-shins have adapted to take down small bird prey with surprise attacks.

Perching inconspicuously within dense bushes and tree canopies, they lie in wait to dart out and strike with lethal speed and accuracy. Although tiny, their fierce predatory nature enables them to overpower birds larger than themselves.

A preference for smaller avian prey and stealth hunting techniques make the Sharp-shinned a formidable ambush predator despite its petite size.

How to Differentiate From Cooper’s Hawk

You would see the smaller broadside patagial bars of a Sharp-shinned hawk versus the broader patagial bars of a Cooper’s hawk. Cooper’s hawks appear larger-headed and buteo-like. Focus on wing shape and tail length when differentiating these two accipiters in the field.

The Sharp-shinned has shorter wings with a more rectangular shape and a longer tail. The Cooper’s boasts a larger, rounder head and longer, straighter-edged wings. Wing flap speed and flight maneuverability also offer identification clues.

Sharp-shinned hawks have faster wing beats and are more maneuverable in flight compared to the less agile Cooper’s.

Cooper’s Hawk

Cooper’s hawk populations are making a comeback thanks to conservation efforts. You’ll find these agile fliers hunting songbirds in woodlands across Texas.

1. They have striking reddish barring on their undersides that helps camouflage them in trees.
2. Cooper’s hawks are ambush predators that perch quietly before bursting from cover to grab unwary birds.
3. Though small, they’re fierce defenders of their nests and will attack humans who get too close.

Careful habitat management and restrictions on DDT use have allowed Cooper’s hawk numbers to increase significantly since the 1970s. Keep an eye out for their swift flights through the forest canopy as you explore the woods of Texas.

Northern Goshawk

Looking for an elusive hunter in the Texas woods? Keep an eye out overhead for the Northern Goshawk. Unlike the forest-floor dwelling Red-shouldered Hawk, this raptor hunts from above, utilizing speed and agility to catch its preferred prey of snakes, rodents, and birds in flight.

Hunting Behavior and Diet

As the hidden archer targets the songbirds, your soul weeps for their melodious refrains now silenced forever. The northern goshawk’s acute senses and swift flight allow it to ambush prey. With powerful talons, this raptor hunts birds and small mammals.

Its diet reflects availability—from rodents and rabbits to grouse and jays. This adaptable hunter employs a range of techniques to seize avian and mammalian prey. Though a skilled predator, appreciate the northern goshawk’s role in balancing wilderness ecosystems.

Comparison With Red-shouldered Hawk

While searching the forest canopy, you spot a large, crow-sized hawk with dark bands in its tail. Whereas the red-shouldered prefers to hunt from perches, this accipiter actively pursues prey in flight, making it more likely a northern goshawk.

The goshawk plunges through dense cover with lightning speed, hunting songbirds aggressively, contrasting the red-shouldered’s strategy of dropping to the forest floor. The red-shouldered’s wider wings are also better suited to navigating cluttered woodlands, whereas the goshawk resides in more open habitats.

Though they share preferences for forested areas, they differ in hunting techniques and adaptations. Flexibly, the goshawk and red-shouldered hawk can contextually adapt, but prefer different strategies based on structural adaptations.

Rough-legged Hawk

You’re strollin’ through the plains of Texas when a large shadow suddenly passes over you – it’s a Rough-legged Hawk hoverin’ mid-air scoutin’ for its next rodent meal. Even though they may seem intimidatin’ with their sheer size, these Arctic birds are just passin’ through on their yearly migration south.

• Hunts small mammals like lemmings in the Arctic
• Migrates south to plains and grasslands for winter
• Hovers motionless while hunting
• Nests on rocky cliffs and crags
• Plumage varies from dark to light morphs

Rough-legged hawks breed in the Arctic tundra during the summer. But come winter, they head down to the southern U.S. plains and grasslands. With their hovering hunting style and barred tails, these large raptors stand out as they pass through Texas on their way to and from their northern nesting grounds.

Broad-winged Hawk

To learn more about the broad-winged hawk, let’s discuss its migration behavior and patterns in comparison with the Swainson’s hawk. These hawks spend the winter in South America, then traverse back to the U.S. and Canada each spring; remarkably, they migrate at night in large groups called kettles that can number in the thousands.

Their long journeys differ from those of the Swainson’s hawks as they are shorter-distance migrants that follow more easterly routes.

Migration Behavior and Patterns

Since the Broad-winged Hawk prefers deep woods, you’ll spot it migrating in large flocks called kettles over Texas as it travels long distances to and from its wintering grounds.

The Broad-winged Hawk makes an epic journey each fall and spring between its breeding grounds in North America and wintering grounds in South America. This small hawk uses thermals and tailwinds to travel thousands of miles over land and sea twice a year.

Autumn	Winter	Spring
Departs breeding grounds in September/October	Overwinters in South America	Returns to North America in March/April
Forms large migratory flocks called “kettles”	Covers up to 4,000 miles	Follows same route back north
Rides thermals and tailwinds	Stages along coastal areas	Arrives on breeding grounds by May

The Broad-winged’s endurance allows it to navigate immense distances across continents, showcasing the incredible migration adaptions of raptors. This hawk’s ability to migrate long distances enables it to take advantage of abundant seasonal resources.

Comparison With Swainson’s Hawk

You’d be fascinated to learn that Broad-winged Hawks migrate up to 3,000 miles to Central and South America each winter, while their cousin, the Swainson’s Hawk, goes even farther – up to 14,000 miles roundtrip to Argentina! Unlike Broad-winged Hawks, Swainson’s Hawks tend to form large flocks called kettles during migration, sometimes getting lost and straying far off course.

Swainson’s Hawks favor open grasslands and thrive on grasshoppers, while Broad-winged Hawks prefer forests. Both species face threats like habitat loss, so conservation of stopover sites is key.

Ferruginous Hawk

You’ll often spot the largest North American hawk soaring over open grasslands or agricultural fields searching for its preferred prey of small mammals and using unique hunting techniques like locating rodent tunnels.

The Ferruginous Hawk’s large size and light color act as effective camouflage when hunting small mammals, like prairie dogs, over the open areas it prefers. Its legs and toes are feathered for insulation when standing on the ground. Unfortunately, habitat loss threatens this species so conservation efforts aim to protect and restore the open, lightly-wooded areas it requires.

Tracking programs monitor populations while hunting restrictions reduce pressure. Still elusive, its adaptable hunting skills and unique relationship with the prairie habitat make the Ferruginous Hawk a prized sight for any birder when it’s spotted gliding low over the fields.

Harris’s Hawk

Witness wild wings work wonders when wily white-faced weasels whisk southward. Harris’s hawks showcase sophisticated social skills, cooperating in cunning teams to corral crafty cottontails. Kinship cultivates complex hierarchies, leading learned leaders to direct the hunt’s harmonized ballet.

Constant communication clues clutches to swoop on scurrying squirrels in synchronized strikes.

Unlike solitary soaring sentinels, Harris’s hawks find family formidable for foraging. Their popularity in falconry flows from flocking fellowship. Subspecies scattered across scrublands share survival strategies.

Though common where they’re found, worldwide there’s worry. With wilderness waning, conservation’s compulsory to preserve populations. Despite their adaptability, habitat loss looms. But science stands steadfast to secure their future.

So admire astounding aerobatics, applaud avian intellect. Harris’s hawks exemplify evolution’s excellence.

Gray Hawk

The gray hawk is a small tropical species that reaches the northern edge of its range in southern Texas. You’ll find this hawk in arid regions and along watercourses lined with trees. It prefers warmer climes but can withstand freezing temperatures for brief periods.

This agile flier catches prey in mid-air or snatches it from vegetation, feeding mostly on lizards, large insects, and small mammals.

While not considered threatened overall, conservation of riparian habitats can provide this unique raptor safe nesting sites at the northern reaches of its range, ensuring Texans continue to glimpse a gray hawk patrolling the tree lines.

Zone-tailed Hawk

Spot that zone-tailed hawk camouflaged as a vulture before it sneaks up on its prey! With distinctive black and white barred markings on its underside and a barred tail that resembles a turkey vulture when spread, the zone-tailed hawk uses this uncanny resemblance to gain the element of surprise.

Ambushing small mammals, birds, and reptiles from a perch or while soaring, this clever raptor mimics the flight style of vultures to stealthily approach prey before snatching it up in its sharp talons.

Though the zone-tailed hawk has a relatively limited range in the southwestern United States and Mexico, its populations appear stable. Keep an eye out for this master of disguise as it continues expanding its range northward into new territories.

By mimicking turkey vultures, the zone-tailed hawk can hunt using the element of surprise despite its limited habitats.

Common Black Hawk

Y’all’d see a Common Black Hawk soarin’ over southern Texas streams if ya lived down south near Mexico.

• Loves huntin’ frogs, snakes, fish, and young birds along them rivers
• Builds bulky nests in tall trees to raise its youngins
• Migrates to Mexico and Central America come winter time
• Used to be more common but habitat loss has made it rare
• Still found along the Rio Grande and coastal areas

With its distinctive red eyes and black plumage, this majestic raptor makes its home in the Southwest. Watchin’ it glide so effortlessly over the water, you can’t help but feel blessed to witness nature’s beauty.

Though it faces challenges, conservin’ its habitat and protectin’ nest sites means this hawk will keep on huntin’ for generations to come.

White-tailed Hawk

Y’ever notice this common southern Texas hawk prefers warmer regions and has a distinctive call? This bird, with its white-tipped tail and distinctive kee-ouu call, favors the Rio Grande Valley and coastal prairies.

You may spot it perched on telephone poles or soaring over open grasslands searching for prey like rabbits, ground squirrels, and rats.

The white-tailed hawk often builds a large stick nest in mesquite or hackberry trees, lining it with grasses, moss, and leaves. While not considered a species of concern, it faces threats from habitat loss and pesticides.

With its limited range concentrated along the southern Texas border, this tropical raptor reaches the northern limit of its range in the Lone Star State. Continued preservation of its thornscrub habitat will be key to ensuring this hawk remains a common sight cruising over the hot, arid landscapes it calls home.