WhenToBird

Buteo jamaicensis · Accipitridae

Red-tailed Hawk: When and Where to See It

Adult Red-tailed Hawk
Photo: Catherine C. Galley, CC BY 4.0 via iNaturalist

The Red-tailed Hawk reaches Iowa first, around early October, and Mississippi last, around late October.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
today
Second week of November

Each county is shaded by the share of complete checklists there that listed the bird, blended with the weeks either side. Darker is more often. It follows where people watch birds, not how many birds there are. How to read it.

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0%5%10%15%20%Jan 1-7: 16% of 1114036 checklistsJan 8-14: 15% of 824708 checklistsJan 15-21: 15% of 825978 checklistsJan 22-31: 16% of 1105853 checklistsFeb 1-7: 15% of 779772 checklistsFeb 8-14: 14% of 864504 checklistsFeb 15-21: 13% of 1127933 checklistsFeb 22-28: 15% of 840124 checklistsMar 1-7: 16% of 839610 checklistsMar 8-14: 16% of 870138 checklistsMar 15-21: 15% of 898456 checklistsMar 22-31: 15% of 1335637 checklistsApr 1-7: 14% of 1030617 checklistsApr 8-14: 13% of 1124024 checklistsApr 15-21: 13% of 1194575 checklistsApr 22-30: 12% of 1675723 checklistsMay 1-7: 12% of 1449080 checklistsMay 8-14: 11% of 1538353 checklistsMay 15-21: 11% of 1219898 checklistsMay 22-31: 11% of 1452282 checklistsJun 1-7: 9.6% of 900636 checklistsJun 8-14: 9.3% of 829907 checklistsJun 15-21: 9.0% of 773255 checklistsJun 22-30: 8.7% of 916255 checklistsJul 1-7: 8.8% of 717733 checklistsJul 8-14: 8.9% of 658223 checklistsJul 15-21: 9.3% of 638752 checklistsJul 22-31: 9.6% of 895727 checklistsAug 1-7: 10% of 655651 checklistsAug 8-14: 10% of 650038 checklistsAug 15-21: 10% of 654639 checklistsAug 22-31: 10% of 974928 checklistsSep 1-7: 11% of 765914 checklistsSep 8-14: 11% of 738674 checklistsSep 15-21: 12% of 750433 checklistsSep 22-30: 12% of 944196 checklistsOct 1-7: 13% of 760106 checklistsOct 8-14: 14% of 793131 checklistsOct 15-21: 15% of 728727 checklistsOct 22-31: 15% of 959954 checklistsNov 1-7: 16% of 709464 checklistsNov 8-14: 16% of 693424 checklistsNov 15-21: 16% of 653952 checklistsNov 22-30: 16% of 871137 checklistsDec 1-7: 16% of 627591 checklistsDec 8-14: 16% of 642427 checklistsDec 15-21: 17% of 775638 checklistsDec 22-31: 16% of 1132751 checklistsJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Share of complete checklists reporting it, by week (4 per month). Grey bars: fewer than 10 checklists, not counted.

Pooled across every state in the data, so it leans toward states with the most birders.

States, in order of first arrivals

StatePatternFirst arrivalsPeakMost gone byPeak %
AlaskaSummer visitorApr 1-7Apr 15-21Oct 1-72.5%
IowaAll year, most in winterOct 1-7Nov 8-14Apr 1-720%
New MexicoAll year, most in winterOct 1-7Jan 8-14Mar 22-3117%
OklahomaAll year, most in winterOct 8-14Dec 8-14Mar 22-3121%
DelawareAll year, most in winterOct 8-14Nov 8-14May 1-715%
MarylandAll year, most in winterOct 8-14Nov 8-14Apr 22-3011%
VermontAll year, most in winterOct 8-14Jan 15-21Apr 15-2110%
ArkansasAll year, most in winterOct 15-21Dec 22-31Mar 22-3116%
District of ColumbiaAll year, most in winterOct 15-21Nov 15-21Mar 15-2115%
LouisianaAll year, most in winterOct 22-31Dec 22-31Mar 1-718%
TexasAll year, most in winterOct 22-31Dec 8-14Mar 8-1415%
MississippiAll year, most in winterOct 22-31Dec 8-14Mar 8-1414%
North DakotaWinter visitorMar 8-14Oct 1-7Nov 1-720%
MaineWinter visitorJul 15-21Dec 8-14May 15-216.0%
IdahoYear-round–Mar 15-21–32%
CaliforniaYear-round–Dec 8-14–30%
KansasYear-round–Dec 8-14–29%
ColoradoYear-round–Mar 15-21–28%
ArizonaYear-round–Jan 8-14–24%
MontanaYear-round–Apr 8-14–23%
NevadaYear-round–Dec 8-14–23%
NebraskaYear-round–Oct 22-31–21%
New JerseyYear-round–Nov 8-14–21%
OregonYear-round–Mar 8-14–21%
UtahYear-round–Jan 1-7–21%
IllinoisYear-round–Nov 8-14–21%
MissouriYear-round–Dec 8-14–21%
PennsylvaniaYear-round–Nov 8-14–19%
MassachusettsYear-round–Nov 8-14–18%
New YorkYear-round–Mar 8-14–18%
WashingtonYear-round–Mar 8-14–18%
ConnecticutYear-round–Nov 8-14–17%
South DakotaYear-round–Mar 22-31–17%
KentuckyYear-round–Dec 15-21–16%
OhioYear-round–Mar 1-7–17%
Rhode IslandYear-round–Nov 1-7–15%
WyomingYear-round–Apr 1-7–16%
IndianaYear-round–Dec 22-31–15%
TennesseeYear-round–Dec 15-21–15%
MichiganYear-round–Mar 1-7–14%
WisconsinYear-round–Mar 1-7–14%
West VirginiaYear-round–Nov 15-21–13%
AlabamaYear-round–Jan 8-14–11%
GeorgiaYear-round–Nov 15-21–11%
New HampshireYear-round–Mar 15-21–11%
VirginiaYear-round–Nov 15-21–11%
MinnesotaYear-round–Mar 22-31–11%
North CarolinaYear-round–Nov 15-21–9.5%
South CarolinaYear-round–Nov 15-21–9.6%
FloridaYear-round–Nov 22-30–3.7%

Winter visitor in: North Dakota, Maine

Summer visitor in: Alaska