The state of Oklahoma has a rich landscape including rivers, Rocky Mountains, forests, and foothills, making that place ideal for hawks. There are resources present for nesting, soaring, roasting, and hunting of hawks. If you are a hawk lover, Oklahoma is the best place to visit.
Red-tailed hawk
These birds are found in North America and also in Oklahoma. These birds are large, long rounded wings and tiny fan-shaped tails. They are identified by the color of their plumage, but a distinctive feature is their red tail.
These birds have darker brownish upperparts and lighter creamy lower parts. Their length, wingspan, and weight range from 17.7 to 25.6 inches, 44.9 to 52.4 inches, and 24.3 to 51.5 oz. these birds are usually present on roadside woods, poles, or fields and are predominantly seen in winters. They are mostly dependent on mammals.
They easily eat mice, rats, squirrels, rabbits, snakes, carrion, or even larger birds. These are monogamous and live as pairs. Their stay remains until an individual passes away. Except for their breeding season, they are found almost everywhere in America and in areas near to it.
Red-shouldered hawk
These birds are present in the eastern areas of Oklahoma. They are medium size, the dark brown wings with checks, and red plumage on their chest. During the flight, when their tail spread out it shows white banding. The glowing crescents near their wingtips help in their identification.
Their length, wingspan, and weight range from 16.9 to 24.0 inches, 37.0 to 43.7 inches, and 17.1 to 27.3 oz. they are mostly present in deciduous forests, close to rivers and swamplands. Their nests are made up of sticks and barks etc. they love to eat small mammals, squirrels, lizards, snakes, rabbits, rats, and amphibians, depending on their availability.
They usually hunt by hovering in the circles, these birds are usually territorial and do not attack owls and crows. Males show the pattern of dives called “sky dance” to show their mating behaviors.
Rough-legged hawks
These hawks spend their summers and breeding periods in the Arctic tundra and in winter they move towards the state of Oklahoma in October and April. They are abundantly present in the northern areas of this state mostly in the winter months. These birds are chunky raptors having brown and white plumage, black eyes, whiteheads, curved yellow bills, and pale tails.
These birds have feet covered with feathers which help their living in the Arctic regions. They have unique hunting styles such as they can even hunt their prey in wind. They usually consume lemmings in the Arctic regions and are dependent on mice, rabbits, rats, shrews, and voles in the state of Oklahoma. They hunt almost the whole day but frequently at dawn and dusk.
Cooper’s hawk
They are easily spotted in Oklahoma throughout the year and easily can be seen in all regions of the state, especially central regions. These birds have bluish-gray plumage, reddish-tinged underparts, and dark-colored bandings on their tail.
They are usually present in the woodlands and forests near to them and build their nests there. They usually hunt on the edges of these areas and are dependent on small rodents, birds, squirrels, rabbits, etc. Due to their urge to eat small animals, they are usually seen in backyards near the birds’ feeders and easily predate small robins, jays, and other small birds.
Their length, wingspan, and weight range from 14.6 to 17.7 inches, 24.4 to 35.4 inches, and 7.8 to 24.0 oz. Both males and females build their nests together, after bowing the display of males in front of their females. It is known as their breeding behavior.
Swinson’s hawk
These birds are found in Oklahoma in the spring and summer seasons, but during fall they usually migrate to South America. They are very social and mostly seen moving in groups. They are present on the ground, plains, and open fields and easily eat plenty of insects. These birds have short tails and broad wings but are slimmer in general appearance.
The wings and backsides are brownish-gray in color and there is a lighter color on the undersides and bellies. They usually spend their summers breeding and raising their young ones then they usually migrate to Argentina which is 6000 miles far away and it will take almost two months to reach there.
They are monogamous and both the partners become aggressive while defending their nests and territories. Sometimes they appear to be into fights with some other species of hawks and some other birds. Their length, wingspan, and weight range from 18.9 to 22.1 inches, 46 to 54 inches, and 24.4 to 48.2 oz.
They usually fly with other migratory birds and can be easily recognizable due to their characteristic features as mentioned above. At the beginning of summer, they prefer to eat small mammals and reptiles, but in other seasons, they consume large and small insects.
Broad-winged hawks
These birds are seen in the state of Oklahoma in the fall season. During the winter season, thousands of these birds in the form of groups move to South America to spend their cold. These hawks are seen in the forests and open lands of this state, other than during their breeding seasons. During the period of migration and breeding, they are not easily spotted.
These birds have large heads and stocky bodies. Their heads are reddish-brown, chest and undersides are creamy in color. The tails are dark gray with white bandings on them. Their length, wingspan, and weight range from 13.4 to 17.3 inches, 31.9 to 39.4 inches, and 9.3 to 19.8 oz.
These birds are considered perch hunters because they observe the areas from tree limbs and then move down to consume toads, frogs, rats, rabbits, and other small mammals.
Harris’s hawks
These birds are seen in Oklahoma in October and March. They are present in open dry areas, river woods, and brushes. They move in groups of 3 to 4 in search of food. These birds are called the most powerful hunters among the hawk family.
They usually consume small lizards, rats, rabbits, squirrels, and other small mammals and birds. The most identifying feature is their upper yellow-colored bill which suddenly changes to gray color. Their wings are brown with orange highlighted areas, the tail is of white and black color, and the head is slightly brown in color.
Sharp-shinned hawks
These hawks have plumage of bluish-gray in color with red-colored stripping on their creamy chests, and dark bandings are present on their tails. They are present in the state of Oklahoma in winter and non-breeding seasons, during the period of their migration, they can be easily seen in dense forests or large open woodlands.
During their breeding seasons, they usually migrate towards the north such as in Canada. During this season, these birds are less active and thus reduce the risk of predation. They build their nests together in the deep forests and covered that with sticks and shrubs.
They have 1 brood in 1 brooding season and produce 3 to 8 eggs per brood. They produce shrilled distress calls most of the time. If you observe a sudden eruption of birds and feathers, sharp-shinned hawks are responsible for that. Their length, wingspan, and weight range from 9.4 to 13.4 inches, 16.9 to 22.1 inches, and 3.1 to 7.7 oz.
Northern Goshawk
The range of these birds is scarce in the state of Oklahoma, but present in all other regions of other states in different months. The best time to detect these birds in Oklahoma is during winter. They are difficult to see due to their plumage color, pattern, and there living style.
They prefer to live in large and mixed hardwood forests, away from urbanization. They have a dark color head, red-colored eyes, and a white-gray color belly with markings. The upper parts of the body are brown-gray in color with specific markings. They are rarely present in cities and shrubs.
These birds consume reptiles, insects, small mammals, and birds. If you accidentally locate their nest, they will definitely attack you to protect themselves. They usually hunt their prey through gliding movements and rarely pursue their predation on foot. After a breeding pair is formed, they do sky dance together. These birds are monogamous and produce 500 eggs per clutch.
Ferruginous hawks
These hawks are the largest of all the North American hawks. These beautiful birds are present in the state of Oklahoma throughout the year, the best time to visit them is in fall and winter. They are mostly present in the western part of the state. These hawks are present in open spaces including fields, plains, etc.
These hawks have a gray-white rusty tail with broad wings. The underparts are pale in appearance and the back is rusty brown in color. These birds are present on trees, rocks, poles, and haystacks. They consume limited food items such as small mammals, squirrels, rats, and rabbits. Their V-shaped wings make them unique from other species of hawks.
They usually do hop and flap their wings to attract other species of hawks and their prey. Their length, wingspan, and weight range from 22.1 to 27.2 inches, 52.4 to 55.9 inches, and 34.5 to 73.2 oz. if they are 5 to 10 in number, they can easily attack prairie dogs.
