Winter Hawks & Chicken Hawks

It's inaugeration day, with snow on the ground, and therefore a perfectly good day to write about Chicken Hawks and winter hawks.


Five species of common hawks are commonly found across Virginia and Maryland, and recognition can generally be done at a distance based on size and habitat. In addition to the five hawks listed below, we have Ospreys (sea hawks or sea eagles), Bald Eagles, two kinds of vultures (aka "buzzards"), various types of owls and occasional stray migrants from the north.

8 Red-tailed Hawks are the hawks you are most likely to see when out with the dogs, as they are present all winter long, and are large birds commonly found in areas where we hunt our dogs.

The Red-tail Hawk is sometimes called a "chicken hawk" and is commonly seen along roadsides.

Redtail populations have increased in the past few decades, largely due to the increased acres of open land that is in short grass due to tripple hay harvests, and the increasing numbers of small woods that break up farm country.

Red-tails primarily feed on mice, rats and voles, but will also eat snakes and frogs if they can catch them. Small birds make up a significant portion of their diet. Young rabbits are taken in the spring, but adult cotton tails are a bit large for this hawk and they tend to feed a little close to cover for this hawk to depend on them as a food source.

The Red-tail does most of its hunting from a perch overlooking areas of short vegetation, and they are a common sight at the edge of small woods bordering fields and roadways, and commonly hunt powerline corridors.


8The Red-shouldered hawk is slightly smaller and darker than the Red-tail, and is more likely to be found in low-lying marshy areas. It too eats mostly mice, rats and voles, but also takes many frogs, small birds and even insects. If you see a hawk in a marshy forested area, rather than next to a large open field, it is probably a Red-shouldered hawk.

8 The Cooper's Hawk has shorter and more rounded wings, and a longer tail which allows it to be extremely quick and agile in flight. Cooper's Hawk generally hunts on the wing, and the majority of its prey are small birds taken in flight. If you have a hawk poaching birds at a feeder, it is probably a Cooper's Hawk or a Sharp-shinned Hawk (see below). Most Cooper's Hawks will migrate South for the winter, but occassionally one or two will stay around all winter.

8 The Sharp-shinned Hawk is very much like a small Cooper's Hawk, with short wings and a longer tail. Sharp-shins also feed on small birds, but are more likely to be found in hedgerows, wooded strips and fields where they nail birds moving from cover areas to feeding areas. If you see a small hawk (much smaller than a Red-tail) working a hedgerow, it is probably a Shap-shin. Sharp-shins are also very common predators at bird feeders. Sharp-shins migrate South for the winter.

8 The Sparrow Hawk, or American Kestrel, is a very small hawk about the size of a mourning dove. They can be seen on telephone lines and perched on fence posts, especially in winter. If you see a very small hawk hovering over a roadside ditch looking for a grasshopper or small mouse, it is a Sparrow Hawk. Unlike the other hawks, which open nests in crotches of trees, the Sparrow Hawk, or Kestrel, nests in cavities. >> Click here to build a kestrel nesting box.
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