![]() ![]() They live in large forests and may be hard to find, but your best chance is to quietly walk and listen in mature forests with large trees. The Northern Goshawk is considered scarce in most of the state, with a non-breeding population in northern Illinois. Northern Goshawks are large birds of prey, similar in size to Red-tailed Hawks. Northern Goshawk photo by: Iosto Doneddu | CC 2.0 Their diet is consistent with that of most other birds of prey.Ħ. They will fiercely protect their nesting site and build their nests with at least a half-mile of seperation from other birds of prey. The female is in charge of constructing the nest, with help from the male. If you want to spot a Broad-winged Hawk while they’re in Illinois, try walking through a forest during the summer and listening for their piercing whistle.īroad-winged Hawks have one brood each year with 1-5 eggs. Broad-winged Hawks migrate each year by the thousands, these large flocks are called “kettles”. The Broad-winged Hawk has a breeding-only range throughout the entire state of Illinois. Broad-winged Hawk Broad-winged hawk (Image: Andrew Cannizzaro | CC BY 2.0 | wikicommons) Females tend to be larger and more dominant over the males of this species.ĥ. Their preferred habitat is forests and wooded areas but will also nest in suburban wooded areas and backyards too. They are also notorious for stalking feeders and feed almost exclusively on other birds. They can be found in Illinois year-round and their range covers most of North America. Learn more about the Sharp-shinned hawk here.Ĭooper’s Hawks can sometimes appear to be just a larger version of the Sharp-shinned Hawk (see video below to tell the difference between Cooper’s Hawks and Sharp-shinned Hawks). If you see one, consider taking down your feeders for a week or two and allowing the hawk to move on. These small hawks are notorious for stalking backyard feeders. They are very migratory birds, but you have a couple of opportunities to see them each year as they are passing through your state. Sharpies migrate north to Canada and Alaska to breed each year, and south to Central America in the winter time. ![]() They can be found all over North America, including Illinois. The Sharp-shinned Hawk is the smallest hawk in Canada and the United States. Learn more about the Red-shouldered hawk here. Red-shouldered Hawks will commonly re-use the same nest year after year. The biggest threat to this species is the clearing of wooded areas where they nest and breed. The population of Red-shouldered hawks has increased over the last 50 years in their range. To the south they extend a bit beyond the river into Missouri. The Mississippi River which acts as the western border to Illinois also acts as the western edge of their range in the northern half of the state. They are known for living and nesting in wooded areas and forests. They eat mostly small mammals, other birds, reptiles, and amphibians. The Red-shouldered hawk is a year-round resident to Illinois, and much of the eastern half of the United States. Learn more about the Red-tailed Hawk here. They aren’t often seen in backyards lurking around feeders because they prey on larger animals that just songbirds. Red-tailed Hawks are most active during the day or early morning and are commonly seen soaring above looking for prey with their amazing vision or perched along the roadside on telephone poles. These large hawks live in Illinois and most of North America all year long. This number accounts for about 90% of the global Red-tailed Hawk population. with almost 2 million nesting hawks in North America. Red-tailed Hawks are probably the most common hawks in the U.S. Wanna know a little bit about where you can see them in Illinois and what they look like? There have been a few reports of the Ferruginous Hawk in the state of Illinois, but the bird does not have a range within the state so I did not include it on this list. Those species are the Red-tailed Hawk, Red-shouldered Hawk, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Cooper’s Hawk, Broad-winged Hawk, Northern Goshawk, Rough-legged Hawk, and the Swainson’s Hawk. When it comes to hawks in Illinois, there are 8 different species that you may encounter. It can be a chore to search the internet trying to find what species of hawks live in your state. Raptors of all types are very interesting to me and I enjoy writing about them so I’ve been trying to cover as many states as possible recently. How many species can be found in the state, and a little bit about each one. In this article we’ll discuss hawks in Illinois. Due to different states having different climates and food sources for the various species, each state may have it’s own collection of hawks that live there at various times of the year. Depending on who you ask, there are up to 25 different species of hawks in the United States.
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