10-inch Red-tailed Hawk
This 10-inch Red-tailed Hawk carving was hand-crafted from solid Basswood. The Red-tailed Hawk is the most common buteo found in North America. The wings are broad and fairly rounded and the plumage is extremely variable. Looks heavily billed, unlike the Rough-legged and Swainson's Hawk's. Variable pale mottling on the scapulars contrasts with a dark mantle, often forming a broad-sided "V" on perched birds. Most adults, especially in the East, show a belly band of dark streaks on whitish under-parts; dark bar on the leading edge of under-wing, contrasting with paler wing linings. Note the reddish upper-tail and paler under-tail. The Great Plains race, krideri known as "Krider's Red-tailed," has paler upper-parts and a whitish tail with a pale-reddish wash; in flight, Krider's shows pale, rectangular patches at the base of the primaries on the upper-wings. Many southwestern birds of the fuertesi race lack the belly band and have entirely light under-parts. Widespread, dark and rufous morphs of the western race, calurus, have dark wing linings and under-parts, obscuring the bar on the leading edge and belly band; the tail is dark-reddish above.
Reference
National Geographic Field Guide To The Birds of North America, Fifth Edition, Page 132
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