Red-tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) nesting in a Boojum (Fouiquieria columnaris)

The red-tailed hawk is a bird of prey, one of three species colloquially known in the United States as the "chickenhawk," though it rarely preys on standard sized chickens. It breeds throughout most of North America, from western Alaska and northern Canada to as far south as Panama and the West Indies, and is one of the most common buteos in North America.