The red-tailed hawk is also sometimes called the chicken hawk (as are a few other hawks) and is often seen on roadsides or soaring with its broad tail and broad rounded wings. The underside of the tail is more orange than red and more brown then red on top. The rest of its plumage can vary from dark brown to reddish to almost all white. The hawk lives in Alaska through Canada and down through North America and Central America to Panama.

This species prefers to eat small and medium sized mammals but will also go after snakes and birds. Prairie dogs, voles and squirrels are common prey, also quails but not usually chickens and sometimes grasshoppers. As for snakes, the hawk will attack bullsnakes and rattlesnakes, and may lose the battle with rattlesnakes occasionally. Sometimes though, smaller birds such as finches may mob and harass the larger bird to chase it away.