General Information
Red-tailed hawks can be found across most of North America from western Alaska to the Caribbean Islands, except in large, forested areas or the far northern Arctic. As a result, they occupy a range of habitats, including open fields, deserts, and forests. Red-tailed hawks reside high up in trees, typically in nests built of large branches and sticks.
Adult hawks have few natural predators and eat a diet of small mammals and birds, although their diet varies with location and season. They’ve also been known to occasionally eat small reptiles. Red-tailed hawks have seemingly adapted to human activity with very little difficulty. They can often be seen in heavily trafficked towns and cities, perching on utility poles.
Meet Our Red-Tailed Hawks
Two red-tailed hawks, Sweetie and Meep, live in the Raptor Center of the Ralph Perkins II Wildlife Center & Woods Garden—Presented by KeyBank at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.
Sweetie
Sweetie joined the Museum in 1999. She was found with a fractured right humerus, likely the result of being struck by a car. Sweetie was taken to Hawk Ridge Wildlife Rehabilitation Center to heal. The staff at the rehab center found her to be unfit for release after her wing did not return to its natural form, preventing Sweetie from flying as well as necessary to survive in the wild. She found a permanent home at the Museum in the Perkins Wildlife Center.
Meep
Meep the red-tailed hawk hatched here at the Museum in 2004. His mom is Sweetie, another red-tailed hawk who lives in the Perkins Wildlife Center. Meep was transferred to the Wild Rehabilitation Center but returned to the Museum after it was revealed he had imprinted on humans. He was deemed non-releasable and has remained at Perkins Wildlife Center ever since.
Lifespan
Wild: 10–15 years
In human care: 10–20 years
Fun Facts
