The Story
I photographed Ruby, a Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis), at the Avian Reconditioning Center in Apopka, Florida, United States, in October 2020. The Red-tailed Hawk is one of the most common hawks in North America. It uses a wide range of habitats and altitudes, from deserts, grasslands and forests to farm fields and cities, and it feeds on small animals such as rodents, birds and reptiles. Because they are common and easily trained, most hawks taken for falconry in the United States are Red-tails. 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 1/400 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