Hawk Trivia | 30 facts about the spectacular bird of prey

Hawk is a wild animal, and more specifically a spectacular bird of prey, which means that even though it’s a bird it still hunts down its food.

Let’s find out more about the animal!

1. Hawks are a group of medium-sized diurnal birds of prey.
2. They belong to the family of Accipitridae.
3. Hawks are widely distributed and vary greatly in size.
4. The subfamily Accipitrinae includes goshawks, sparrowhawks, sharp-shinned hawks and others.
5. This subfamily are mainly woodland birds with long tails and high visual acuity.
6. They hunt by dashing suddenly from a concealed perch.
7. In America, members of the Buteo group are also called hawks.
8. Buteo is also called buzzards in other parts of the world.
9. Generally, buteos have broad wings and sturdy builds.
10. They are relatively larger-winged, shorter-tailed and fly further distances in open areas than accipiters.
11. Buteos descend or pounce on their prey rather than hunting in a fast horizontal pursuit.
12. The terms accipitrine hawk and buteonine hawk are used to distinguish between the types in regions where hawk applies to both.
13. The term “true hawk” is sometimes used for the accipitrine hawks in regions where buzzard is preferred for the buteonine hawks.\
14. To confuse things further, some authors use “hawk” generally for any small to medium Accipitrid that is not an eagle.
15. A Red-tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis), a member of the Buteo group
16. The common names of some birds include the term “hawk”, reflecting traditional usage rather than taxonomy. For example, some people may call an osprey a “fish hawk” or a peregrine falcon a “duck hawk”.
17. Falconry was once called “hawking” and any bird used for falconry could be referred to as a hawk.
18. Aristotle listed eleven types of hierakes or hawks.
19. Pliny numbered sixteen kinds of hawks.
20. The eyesight of a hawk is 8 times as powerful as a human’s.
21. Like all hawks, the red-tailed hawk’s talons are its main weapons.
22. The Red-tailed Hawk has hoarse and rasping 2- to 3-second scream that is most commonly heard while soaring.
23. They are loudest when defending their nest.
24. 85 -90% of the red-tailed hawk’s diet is composed of small rodents.
25. Nests are located from 35 to 75 feet high in the forks of large trees. The nest is large, flat, shallow and made of sticks and twigs about 1/2 inch in diameter. Both males and females assist in nest construction.
26. When parents leave the nest, the young utter a loud wailing “klee-uk,” repeated several times – this is a food cry.
27. When hatched, the young are covered with white down. They grow slowly and require much food, which keeps both parents busy. They remain in the nest for up to 48 days. During the last 10 days or so the young, which now appear as large as the parent birds, practice flapping their wings and balancing in the wind on the edge of the nest, preparing for the day when they will launch themselves into the air.
28. The hawk’s average life span in the wild is 20 years.
29. The red-tailed hawk is capable of “kiting,” holding still against the wind on set wings, much like a kite tugging against string. It’s one of the few birds able to do so.
30. The red-tailed hawk was often used in the ancient sport of falconry, practiced primarily by the rich nobility.