Red-tailed Hawk: Close up

This was one of the highlights of our trip to Ridgefield NWR. This Red-tailed hawk just stood perched, maybe 15 feet from us and really didn't care as we inched up in our car. Perhaps the branches to the side are a little distracting and such...but I really don't mind. I just feel fortunate I got this close to a wild hawk. It was quite an experience.

Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) These birds wait on a high perch and swoop down on prey; they may also patrol open areas in flight. They mainly eat small mammals, birds and reptiles. Throughout their range in the U.S., Red-tailed Hawks receive special legal protections under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918. They have a complex relationship with humans, capable of both controlling rodent and other mammalian pests, and of on occasion being one, taking valuable fowl. More