Types of Hawks
Hawks sort into two flight styles that solve most IDs before you ever see a field mark. The broad-winged buteos, like the Red-tailed, soar in slow circles over open country. The short-winged accipiters, like the Cooper’s, flap and glide through the trees after other birds. Here are the hawks in the Huck field guide.
18 hawks in the Huck field guide. Tap any one for identification, habitat, diet, and a live sightings map.
Two of these are especially easy to mix up - see how to tell them apart.
Not sure which hawk you found?
Point Huck at it. One photo identifies it on the spot, and adds it to your collection.
Get Huck - freeCommon questions
What is the most common hawk in North America?
The Red-tailed Hawk. It is the big buteo you see perched on highway poles and soaring over fields coast to coast, and its rasping scream is the "eagle" cry dubbed into most movies.
What hawk hunts birds at my feeder?
Usually a Cooper’s Hawk or a Sharp-shinned Hawk, the two bird-hunting accipiters that have learned feeders are buffets. They are notoriously hard to tell apart; see the Cooper’s vs Sharp-shinned guide for the marks that separate them.