The Collaborative International Dictionary
Red-tailed \Red"-tailed`\ (-t?ld`), a. Having a red tail.
Red-tailed hawk (Zo["o]l.), a large North American hawk ( Buteo borealis). When adult its tail is chestnut red. Called also hen hawck, and red-tailed buzzard.
Wiktionary
n. ''Buteo jamaicensis'', a medium-sized bird of prey found throughout North America.
WordNet
n. dark brown American hawk species having a reddish-brown tail [syn: redtail, Buteo jamaicensis]
Wikipedia
The red-tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) is a bird of prey, one of three species colloquially known in the United States as the " chickenhawk," though it rarely preys on standard sized chickens. It breeds throughout most of North America, from western Alaska and northern Canada to as far south as Panama and the West Indies, and is one of the most common buteos in North America. Red-tailed hawks can acclimate to all the biomes within their range. There are fourteen recognized subspecies, which vary in appearance and range. It is one of the largest members of the genus Buteo in North America, typically weighing from and measuring in length, with a wingspan from . The red-tailed hawk displays sexual dimorphism in size, with females averaging about 25% heavier than males. The bird is sometimes referred to as the red-tail for short, when the meaning is clear in context.
The subspecies Harlan's hawk (B. j. harlani) is sometimes considered a separate species (B. harlani).
The red-tailed hawk occupies a wide range of habitats and altitudes, including deserts, grasslands, coniferous and deciduous forests, agricultural fields and urban areas. It lives throughout the North American continent, except in areas of unbroken forest or the high arctic. It is legally protected in Canada, Mexico and the United States by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.
Because they are so common and easily trained as capable hunters, the majority of hawks captured for falconry in the United States are red-tails. Falconers are permitted to take only passage hawks (which have left the nest, are on their own, but are less than a year old) so as to not affect the breeding population. Adults, which may be breeding or rearing chicks, may not be taken for falconry purposes and it is illegal to do so. Passage red-tailed hawks are also preferred by falconers because these younger birds have not yet developed the adult behaviors which would make them more difficult to train.
Usage examples of "red-tailed hawk".
Someone pointed out a red-tailed hawk in a bare tree, and someone else said that it looked more like a falcon, but it flew away and the argument was abandoned.
A red-tailed hawk passed overhead, riding rising currents of hot air from hill to hill without flapping its outstretched wings.
A stream gurgled downhill, somewhere out of sight, and a red-tailed hawk circled high overhead.
The red-tailed hawk drifted in languorous spirals beneath his feet, miles above the floor.
To the south, a red-tailed hawk circled--suddenly it dove toward a prairie dog settlement, but came up empty-handed.
Bailie the Red shook his head gently, his callused archer's hands caressing the red-tailed hawk fletchings on his arrows.
There was a box full of bird feathers: from blue jays, a cardinal, a crow, and a banded feather that she thought might have come from a red-tailed hawk, but she wasn't sure.
Debbie's red-tailed hawk, Lucas, is the real-life character upon which Larken's hawk is based.
A gopher, a turkey, a fawn, a red-tailed hawk, a half-starved cat as big as Hammer, and a family of six raccoons all filed up to Morth and sorted themselves by size.
The Apprentice falconer is only permitted to train and fly the red-tailed hawk or the kestrel (North American sparrowhawk) and must do so under the auspices of a Master.
Together, they hurried toward the dead rabbit, wanting to get there before a red-tailed hawk or a day-owl swooped on it from the gray sky above.