 Breeding evidence |
 Relative abundance |
 Probability of observation |
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Click on plot to view table of mean abundance
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Number of squares
Long-term BBS trends
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0.842 (0.22 - 1.46)|
Mean abundance (number of birds detected per 5 min. point count) and percentage of squares occupied by region Bird Conservation Regions [abund. plot]
[%squares plot]
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Atlas Results
Red-tailed Hawks were observed across the province, with sightings from 1,615 atlas squares. They were nearly ubiquitous south of the boreal fringe, with the exception of cities and in parts of the Mixed Grassland ecoregion. Sightings became less regular moving north into the boreal forest, with a small center of higher likelihood of observation around Wollaston Lake. In the south, their large stick nests are easily spotted in the spring before leaf-out, and adults occupying nests were responsible for the majority of the 291 squares reporting breeding confirmations.
Excerpts Adapted from the Birds of Saskatchewan:
As is typical of buteos, the Red-tail Hawk does not actively chase its prey, but hunts by "sit-and-wait? or, more rarely, by cruising, soaring, or hovering over open country. Small mammals are its main fare, but birds are taken regularly. Red-tailed Hawks breed from Alaska and the western Northwest Territories, through northern Saskatchewan to central Quebec and the Maritimes, south to Baja California, northern Mexico, and the highlands of Central America to Panama. It winters from southern British Columbia and Ontario south throughout the remainder of the breeding range (AOU 1998).
Aspen parkland is preferred, but sites adjacent to openings in the boreal forest and scattered aspen groves in grasslands are also used for nesting. Migrants and non-breeding birds may be seen even in the most open country. This opportunistic hunter is found in pastures, wetlands, croplands, and riparian habitats. Although the Red-tailed Hawk eats many Richardson's ground squirrels, it also captures birds of variable size, other rodents, insects, and snakes (Gérard in Leighton et al. 2002).
The Red-tailed Hawk has always been a buteo of the parklands, where it is a common summer resident, but in the more heavily wooded boreal and subarctic regions, it is uncommon. It is also uncommon in the grasslands, but increasing in numbers as aspen bluffs edge southward (Smith 1996).
Original text by Michael Blom. Text adapted by Daniel J. Sawatzky
Read more about the Red-tailed Hawk in the Birds of Saskatchewan here.
Recommended citation: Latremouille, L. M. 2025. Red-tailed Hawk in Latremouille, L. M., S. L. Van Wilgenburg, C. B. Jardine, D. Lepage, A. R. Couturier, D. Evans, D. Iles, and K. L. Drake (eds.). 2025. The Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Saskatchewan, 2017-2021. Birds Canada. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan https://sk.birdatlas.ca/accounts/speciesaccount.jsp?sp=RTHA&lang=en [09 Nov 2025]
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