Oregon Wildlife: Southern Oregon is home to an amazingly varied bird population. And the red-tailed hawk family is no exception.
Stewart Janes, a biology professor at Southern Oregon University just published an article on these amazing birds. He says that there are many, many nesting pairs scattered around the Rogue River valley. Some stay year-round while Janes says that others travel great distances to spend the winter in the Rogue River valley. He notes that a few fly from Eastern Oregon while other hawks travel from as far north as the state of Washington, Montana, British Columbia and Alberta--primarily because of the abundant winter food sources in southern Oregon. Janes says it is hard to tell the "travelers" from the hawks that nest year-round in southern Oregon.
Janes also notes in his article that red-tailed hawks show considerable variation in plumage. There are light-phase birds and dark-phase birds and a few colorations in between. Light-phase birds have a light belly with a belt of dark feathers that varies in extent among individuals. Dark-phase birds are largely brown beneath. Light-phase and dark-phase never change; they hatch that way. All adults have a standard reddish tail.
