I Have a Newfound Appreciation of Red-Tailed Hawks!

It turns out they are more than “Birds of Prey.”

Red-Tailed Hawk (media by JC)

My family and I were on a winter hike this past weekend and encountered a Red-Tailed Hawk. It was at the request of my wife that we partake in this little family excursion as she wanted to see the newly fallen snow on the trees and take in a new amount of scenery. It was a cold day, but we all bundled up accordingly, grabbed a quick lunch, and headed off to the nearest state park.

Traversing a Snow-Covered Bridge (media by JC)

The surroundings were as expected, and it was nice to see several people traversing the snow, whether it was hiking, snow-shoeing, fat-tire biking, or cross-country skiing. We appreciated the calming quiet of the expanse laid out before us. Despite my daughter’s complaints of being tired, it was an overall pleasing experience and a break from the monotony of our daily lives.

Roughly 3/4 of the way into our hike, I looked up ahead and could see a rather large bird at eye level flying towards me. I was surprised and anxious all at once because it was unusual to see something so significant, flying effortlessly and quietly directly towards me on our path. This was no small bird, and I quickly shouted over to my wife a few bird guesses with Hawk being low on my list. I believe owl was one of my first guesses. I was also happy to see the bird was not flying to attack me, but rather it was in flight toward a branch to perch on not too far just above us.

I mentioned how large the bird looked, and true to form, they are some of the largest birds in America. It is also true they only weigh roughly 3 pounds. The largeness of the bird can be credited to their wingspan, which can range from 3 to nearly 5 feet in width. I was happy to learn this as I wondered if I had imagined how imposing this bird looked as it was flying towards us. A few other fun facts I learned at allaboutbirds.org:

Cool Facts:

The oldest known wild Red-tailed Hawk was at least 30 years, 8 months old when it was found in Michigan in 2011, the same state where it had been banded in 1981.

The Red-tailed Hawk has a thrilling, raspy scream that sounds exactly like a raptor should sound. At least, that’s what Hollywood directors seem to think. Whenever a hawk or eagle appears onscreen, no matter what species, the shrill cry on the soundtrack is almost always a Red-tailed Hawk.

As I read further into hawks, I was amazed at the symbolism these beautiful birds hold for some people. I decided to adopt this symbol described on worldbirds.com as it seemed to fit our excursion well.

A hawk facing you with its white breast in full view is a good omen. But, if a hawk shows you its back, it is a bad omen.

If you peruse this website, there is more symbolism, both good and bad. For this article and my family, I am keeping it all positive. Ultimately it was a good experience, and I felt fortunate we were able to get so close to this majestic creature.

Red-Tailed Hawk (media by JC)