Hawks are small to medium-sized birds of prey in the family Accipitridae, which also includes kites, buzzards, and harriers. The term hawk can refer to the "true hawks" in the genus Accipiter , like goshawks and sparrowhawks, but it sometimes includes falcons (family Falconidae). Hawks live on every continent except Antarctica. They have various hunting techniques, but they typically pursue prey swiftly. They use their strong talons to grab prey and their sharp beaks to tear it apart. Most hawks nest in trees, laying three to six brown-spotted eggs. Hawks are divided into three groups: longwings, shortwings, and broadwings. Longwings are falcons that hunt other birds in flight over open terrain. Shortwings and broadwings take ground game or birds close to the ground and are structured to work in wooded countryside.

Hawks inhabit all continents except Antarctica. Most nest in trees, while some, such as the marsh hawk, nest on the ground in grassy places, and others nest on cliffs. Red-tailed hawks, for example, build nests in high trees, cliff ledges, large cacti, or artificial structures like billboards and electric power pylons. Some migrating hawks in Canada and the northern United States move to milder climates in the winter. Falconry, which uses hawks, is practiced worldwide, especially in Britain, the United States, Central Asia, and the Persian Gulf States.

Hawks, also known as raptors or birds of prey, are carnivores that use their feet to capture prey. Hawks possess excellent vision, a sharp, hooked beak, and powerful feet with curved, sharp talons. The diet of hawks includes small animals such as mice, rats, rabbits, and squirrels. They also eat reptiles like lizards and snakes, as well as other birds. Additionally, hawks have been known to feed on fish, amphibians, bats, insects, and carrion. Red-tailed hawks are "sit-and-wait" predators, often perching high to scan for prey. They also hover over potential feeding grounds before diving to capture their prey.

How do hawks hunt for food?

Hawks, also called accipiters, employ diverse hunting strategies, with the most common being raking, or swiftly following their prey's escape. Red-tailed hawks often perch high to scan for prey using their keen eyesight, or hover over fields before diving with legs extended to capture animals such as small mammals, reptiles, and other birds. Once secured with their powerful talons, hawks use their sharp, strong beaks to dismember their prey. Some hawks are trained to assist in hunting, responding to a combination of visual or oral signals.

What are some special features of hawks that help them survive?

Hawks possess several special features that aid in their survival as predatory birds. Their hooked beaks are perfectly adapted for tearing flesh, while their taloned feet are used for grasping, piercing, and killing prey. Hawks also have exceptional eyesight, with visual acuity up to eight times that of humans, enabling them to spot prey from great distances. Furthermore, their strong feather quills allow them to withstand the aerodynamic forces of rapid flight, making them agile hunters in the sky. These adaptations, combined with various foraging techniques, make hawks efficient predators in diverse environments.

How are hawks different from other birds of prey like eagles or falcons?

Hawks, eagles, and falcons are all birds of prey, but they belong to different taxonomic families. Hawks are generally part of the family Accipitridae, while falcons belong to Falconidae. Hawks are generally larger than falcons, with broader wings and tails that aid in maneuverability for hunting in wooded areas. Falcons have long, pointed wings and streamlined bodies, which allow them to achieve incredible speeds for hunting in open spaces. Hawks generally prefer to nest in trees, while falcons tend to nest in holes in trees or on cliff ledges. Falconers use both hawks and falcons in the sport of falconry, but they serve different roles. Falcons are often preferred for hunting birds in flight, while hawks are used for hunting ground game.

Hawk

Introduction References & Edit History Related Topics

Images & Videos

Red-tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) with wings spread and talons extended, preparing to land against a pale blue sky.

Northern goshawk (Accipiter gentilis) with yellow eyes and striped chest feathers perched on a tree stump, looking alert.

Restoring Germany's wetlands: A boost for wildlife

A grid diagram illustrating the Hawk-Dove model, with hawk and dove animals representing aggressive and passive strategies in resource fights. Each cell shows outcomes, payoffs, and risks depending on whether a hawk or dove encounters another hawk or dove.

At a Glance

hawk summary

Quick Facts

Related Topics:: red-tailed hawk; haggard; eyas; passager; tiercel

See all related content

Hawk

bird

Written and fact-checked by

Britannica Editors

Last updated

Nov. 12, 2026 •History

Top Questions

What is a hawk?
Hawks are small to medium-sized birds of prey in the family Accipitridae, which also includes kites, buzzards, and harriers. The term hawk can refer to the "true hawks" in the genus Accipiter, like goshawks and sparrowhawks, but it sometimes includes falcons (family Falconidae).

Hawks live on every continent except Antarctica. They have various hunting techniques, but they typically pursue prey swiftly. They use their strong talons to grab prey and their sharp beaks to tear it apart. Most hawks nest in trees, laying three to six brown-spotted eggs.

Hawks are divided into three groups: longwings, shortwings, and broadwings. Longwings are falcons that hunt other birds in flight over open terrain. Shortwings and broadwings take ground game or birds close to the ground and are structured to work in wooded countryside.
5 Britannica Sources
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
Where do hawks live?
Hawks inhabit all continents except Antarctica. Most nest in trees, while some, such as the marsh hawk, nest on the ground in grassy places, and others nest on cliffs. Red-tailed hawks, for example, build nests in high trees, cliff ledges, large cacti, or artificial structures like billboards and electric power pylons. Some migrating hawks in Canada and the northern United States move to milder climates in the winter. Falconry, which uses hawks, is practiced worldwide, especially in Britain, the United States, Central Asia, and the Persian Gulf States.
5 Britannica Sources
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
What do hawks eat?
Hawks, also known as raptors or birds of prey, are carnivores that use their feet to capture prey. Hawks possess excellent vision, a sharp, hooked beak, and powerful feet with curved, sharp talons.

The diet of hawks includes small animals such as mice, rats, rabbits, and squirrels. They also eat reptiles like lizards and snakes, as well as other birds. Additionally, hawks have been known to feed on fish, amphibians, bats, insects, and carrion.

Red-tailed hawks are "sit-and-wait" predators, often perching high to scan for prey. They also hover over potential feeding grounds before diving to capture their prey.
4 Britannica Sources
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
How do hawks hunt for food?
Hawks, also called accipiters, employ diverse hunting strategies, with the most common being raking, or swiftly following their prey's escape. Red-tailed hawks often perch high to scan for prey using their keen eyesight, or hover over fields before diving with legs extended to capture animals such as small mammals, reptiles, and other birds. Once secured with their powerful talons, hawks use their sharp, strong beaks to dismember their prey. Some hawks are trained to assist in hunting, responding to a combination of visual or oral signals.
4 Britannica Sources
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
What are some special features of hawks that help them survive?
Hawks possess several special features that aid in their survival as predatory birds. Their hooked beaks are perfectly adapted for tearing flesh, while their taloned feet are used for grasping, piercing, and killing prey. Hawks also have exceptional eyesight, with visual acuity up to eight times that of humans, enabling them to spot prey from great distances. Furthermore, their strong feather quills allow them to withstand the aerodynamic forces of rapid flight, making them agile hunters in the sky. These adaptations, combined with various foraging techniques, make hawks efficient predators in diverse environments.
7 Britannica Sources
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
How are hawks different from other birds of prey like eagles or falcons?
Hawks, eagles, and falcons are all birds of prey, but they belong to different taxonomic families. Hawks are generally part of the family Accipitridae, while falcons belong to Falconidae. Hawks are generally larger than falcons, with broader wings and tails that aid in maneuverability for hunting in wooded areas. Falcons have long, pointed wings and streamlined bodies, which allow them to achieve incredible speeds for hunting in open spaces.

Hawks generally prefer to nest in trees, while falcons tend to nest in holes in trees or on cliff ledges. Falconers use both hawks and falcons in the sport of falconry, but they serve different roles. Falcons are often preferred for hunting birds in flight, while hawks are used for hunting ground game.
5 Britannica Sources
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

Hawk, any of various small to medium-sized accipitriform birds, particularly those in the genus Accipiter, known as the bird hawks or true hawks, and including the goshawks and sparrowhawks. The term hawk is often applied to other birds in the family Accipitridae (such as the kites, buzzards, and harriers) and sometimes is extended to include certain members of the family Falconidae (falcons and caracaras) in the order Falconiformes.

The great majority of hawks are more useful to humans than they are harmful, but there is still widespread prejudice against them. Occasionally these birds of prey attack poultry and smaller birds, but usually they eat small mammals, reptiles, and insects. Hawks have many foraging techniques, but the most typical in their pursuit of prey is raking, or swiftly following the animal’s efforts to escape. Once the hawk has secured the prey with its powerful talons, the bird dismembers it with its sharply pointed strong beak.

Hawks occur on all continents except Antarctica. Most species nest in trees, but some, such as the marsh hawk, nest on the ground in grassy places, and others nest on cliffs. They lay from three to six brown-spotted eggs.

Britannica Quiz

Deadliest Animals Quiz

The so-called true hawks—members of the genus Accipiter (sometimes also called accipiters)—are exemplified by the sharp-shinned hawk (A. striatus), a bird with a 30-cm (12-inch) body length, gray above with fine rusty barring below, found through much of the New World, and by Cooper’s hawk (A. cooperii), a North American species similar in appearance but larger—to 50 cm (20 inches) long. A long tail and short rounded wings give these fast low-flying birds great maneuverability. They feed on birds and small mammals; of all the New World raptors, Cooper’s hawk is most suspect when poultry yards are raided. The goshawk and the sparrowhawk are also members of this group.

The buteos, also called buzzard hawks, are broad-winged, wide-tailed, soaring raptors found in the New World, Eurasia, and Africa. The red-tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis), the most common North American species, is about 60 cm (24 inches) long, varying in colour but generally brownish above and somewhat lighter below with a rust-coloured tail. This beneficial hunter preys mainly on rodents, but it also catches other small mammals as well as various birds, reptiles (including rattlesnakes and copperheads), amphibians, and even insects. The red-shouldered hawk (B. lineatus), common in eastern and Pacific North America, is a reddish brown bird about 50 cm (20 inches) long, with closely barred underparts.

The black hawks are two species of short-tailed and exceptionally wide-winged black buteos. The great black hawk, or Brazilian eagle (Buteogallus urubitinga), about 60 cm (24 inches) long, ranges from Mexico to Argentina. Smaller, the common, or Mexican, black hawk (B. anthracinus) has some white markings and ranges from northern South America into the southwestern United States. Both species feed on frogs, fish, and other aquatic creatures.

Some other buteos are the following: Harris’s, or the bay-winged, hawk (Parabuteo unicinctus), a large black bird with inconspicuous brown shoulders and flashing white rump, is found in South America and northward into the southwestern United States. The broad-winged hawk (B. platypterus), a crow-sized hawk, gray-brown with a black-and-white-banded tail, is found in eastern North America, where it migrates in large flocks. Swainson’s hawk (B. swainsoni) is a bird of western North America that migrates to Argentina. Two notable rough-legged hawks are the ferruginous hawk (B. regalis)—the largest North American buzzard (up to 63 cm [25 inches] long)—and the rough-legged hawk (B. lagopus) of both the Old and New Worlds.

Explore Britannica Premium!

The trusted destination for professionals, college students, and lifelong learners.

The African harrier hawk (Polyboroides typus) and the crane hawk (Geranospiza nigra) of tropical America are medium-sized gray birds resembling the harriers but having short broad wings.

The relationship of the Accipitridae and the Falconidae creates some confusion regarding the classification and naming of species, and some names seem—to the layperson, at least—to be used interchangeably. For example, in the United States Circus cyaneus is known as the marsh hawk or northern harrier, while the same bird is known in Britain as the hen harrier. Many falcons are known locally as hawks but have other, more widespread common names—e.g., the sparrowhawk, or kestrel; the duck hawk, or peregrine falcon; and the pigeon hawk, or merlin. Another related species, the fish hawk, is better known by the name osprey. The unrelated birds called nighthawks are not accipitriforms but caprimulgiforms.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia BritannicaThis article was most recently revised and updated by John P. Rafferty.

Hawk

Thank you for signing up!