Skip to main content

Course Outline

Skip audio player

Birds of prey feed on other birds or mammals. Examples are eagles, falcons, and owls. Birds of prey are found throughout North America. All of these birds are protected.

Birds of prey feed on other birds or mammals. Examples are eagles, falcons, and owls. Birds of prey are found throughout North America. All of these birds are protected.

Red-Tailed Hawk

A large hawk with a red tail, white chest, white mottling on back, and usually a belly band. Wide color variation in species.

Habitat and Habits: Found in a variety of open habitats. Makes a high-pitched descending scream. Nests on a platform of sticks in trees or on a rock ledge; 1–5 eggs, bluish-white with dark marks.

  • PROTECTED Non-Game

Great Horned Owl

Large, grayish with brown specks; yellow eyes and ear tufts. 

Habitat and Habits: Found almost everywhere. Makes a rhythmic hooting call. Lives in nests abandoned by other birds and small mammals; 1–4 white eggs.

  • PROTECTED Non-Game

Cooper's Hawk

Small, “crow-sized” hawk with short, rounded wings and long, narrow tail. 

Habitat and Habits: Found in broken forests and open woodlands. Makes a series of nasal, barking notes. Nests high in trees; 3–8 eggs, pale blue-green with dark marks.

  • PROTECTED Non-Game

Turkey & Black Vulture

Large, all-dark bird with long tail and small, bare, reddish head. The black vulture is smaller but similar to the turkey vulture. It has a black, bald head.

Habitat and Habits: Found mainly in deciduous forests, open country, and dumps. Usually silent. Nests on bare ground, in tree hollows, on cliff ledges, or in old buildings; 1–3 dull white eggs with dark marks.

  • PROTECTED Non-Game
  • Unit 3 of 10
  • Topic 3 of 4
  • Page 8 of 12