The Story
I photographed this Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) flying over the Avian Reconditioning Center in Apopka, Florida, United States, in October 2020, with its wings fully extended and its reddish-orange tail spread. It is one of the most common hawks in North America. The pair builds a stick nest high in a tree and lays one to three eggs. Its diet is mostly small animals such as rodents, birds and reptiles. IUCN lists it as Least Concern.
I made this frame with a Pentax K-1 and the HD Pentax-D FA 150-450mm f/4.5-5.6, at 1/3200 sec, f/5.6, ISO 400. The center says the dangers to wildlife are growing with habitat loss and poisons such as rodenticide, so teaching the community about birds of prey is one of the most important parts of its work.
©2023 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) belongs to the family Accipitridae (Hawks, Eagles, and Kites) in the eBird/Clements taxonomy.
Source: eBird.org (opens in a new tab)
Conservation
Least Concern on the IUCN Red List (assessment published 2024), with the population trend listed as increasing. Source: IUCN Red List