9 Hawks in Massachusetts
This is a listing of 9 species of hawks that can be found in Massachusetts.
Hawks are part of a group known as Birds of Prey, which consists of hawks, eagles, falcons, owls, condors, and vultures. They are also referred to as Raptors (from the Latin “rapture” – to seize and carry off).
All of these raptors with the exception of owls are diurnal, meaning that they hunt during the day. Owls are primarily nocturnal and hunt mostly at night.
When identifying raptors, know that females are much larger than males. This can make determining what you’re viewing problematic with some species, like the Cooper’s and Sharp-shinned. While Cooper’s Hawks are larger overall than the Sharp-shinned Hawk, Cooper’s male can be the same size as a Sharp-shinned female.
Most of the hawks seen in Massachusetts are seasonal visitors. Of these migrant raptors, the Northern Goshawk and the Red-tailed Hawk are the only year-round residents.
For other birds in Massachusetts check out Backyard Birds in Massachusetts, Ducks in Massachusetts, Owls in Massachusetts, Woodpeckers in Massachusetts, and Blackbirds in Massachusetts.
The hawks found in Massachusetts are broken down into three separate families: Buteos, Accipiters, and Pandionidae.
Accipiters
Accipiters are fast-moving birds with short, broad, rounded wings and long tails that make it easy for them to maneuver during flight.
While Falcons are also accipiters, they are not hawks and will be covered in another one of our articles.
Buteos
Buteos are large raptors with short, wide tails, broad wings, and heavy, solid bodies. While Buteos are called “hawks” here in the US and Canada, they are known as “buzzards” throughout the rest of the world.
While most raptors have a specific color to their feathers, Buteo hawks can have variations in that overall plumage. This color difference is called a “morph”. Morphs are typically lighter or darker versions of the normal feather hue.
A dark morph Rough-legged hawk looks just like the field guide bird but is darker overall. Light morphs are paler than “normal” birds. Eastern Screech Owls, for example, come in three morphs – brown, grey, and red.
Pandionidae
Pandionidae has only one member – the fish-eating Osprey.
Accipiter Hawks
1. Sharp-shinned Hawk
- Scientific Name Accipiter striatus
- Size 11 inches
- Wingspan 23 inches
Description
Male Sharpies are the smallest hawks in the US and Canada. Long wings and very long tails, along with short wings, make these raptors highly maneuverable among the trees.
The fast-moving Sharp-shinned Hawk is a keen hunter, weaving through the trees to take Robin-sized or smaller songbirds and small rodents from the forest.
Sharpies are the stealth hunters of the raptor class, using their speed to chase their prey or pouncing from the canopy to grab them from the ground. They are built for zipping around trees and forest shrubs, weaving in and out in hot pursuit.
Adult birds are blue-gray with narrow reddish-brown banding on the breast. Their eyes are large while their heads appear small for their size. The tail is squared off and banded.
Immature birds are brown above with brown streaking below. Another field mark for the young Sharp-shinned hawk is a yellow eye.
Their flight profile shows the wings appear pushed forward and their cadence is a flap-flap-glide pattern. Sharp-shinned Hawk light silhouette is more of a capital “T” with the head just peeking out ahead of the wings.
The Sharp-shinned Hawk prefers firs or other conifers for their nest sites.
Bird Notes
Sharpies love to cruise local bird feeders, using them like an avian buffet. If one becomes a constant visitor to your backyard, remove the feeders for about two weeks. The Sharpie will move off to better pickings and you can set up the feeders again.
2. Cooper’s Hawk
- Scientific Name Accipiter Cooperii
- Size 16.5 inches
- Wingspan 31 inches
Description
The quintessential Accipiter, the Cooper’s Hawk is a medium-sized stealth missile honed in on its songbird prey, weaving and swerving through dense forests propelled on strong rounded wings and very long tails.
Adult Cooper’s Hawks are gray with reddish barring on the chest, long gray tails with black banding ide, and a white tail edge (terminal band). The face features pale cheeks, a black cap, red eyes, and a strongly hooked bill.
Immature birds are brown upper parts and white underparts that are streaked with brown. Oh, and yellow eyes.
Cooper’s Hawks show a flight profile where the wings appear pushed forward and their cadence is flap-flap-glide. Their light silhouette is more of a lower-case “T” with the head out in front of the wings. The tails of Cooper’s Hawks appear rounded in flight.
Bird Notes
How to tell a Cooper’s from a Sharpie? Size may not work here, since there’s a major overlap between the two species, with the female Sharpie being similar in size to the male Cooper’s.
Cooper’s are more the size of a Crow while Sharp-shinned is more the size of a Blue Jay, but again, you’ll have to use more than that to make the positive ID.
The Cooper’s sits more upright on a branch. The tail is rounded, kind of like a sideways “C” for Cooper’s, while the Sharpie’s tail has a flat edge.
Cooper’s hawk heads are blocky and appear large while the head of a Sharp-shinned seems small for its body size. In addition to this, the Cooper looks like it’s wearing a cap while the Sharpie wears a hood.
Last one – the Cooper’s Hawk’s body is thick and somewhat tubular and has a low center of gravity while the Sharpie is broad in the chest and slimmer in the hips, so it has a higher center of gravity.
3. Northern Goshawk
- Scientific Name Accipiter gentilis
- Size 21 inches
- Wingspan 41 inches
Description
Northern Goshawks are one of the largest hawks seen in Massachusetts and are found in coniferous and mixed old-growth forests. They are also among the most secretive, choosing to inhabit northern and mountain forests all through their range. This is where you will most likely encounter them in Massachusetts.
Red-eyed, large, robust Accipiter with a slaty-gray cap and white eyebrow. Their backs are slate gray while their breast, chest, and underparts are white with fine gray barring.
Juvenile birds are brownish with streaked bellies and speckled backs. The crowns of their heads are brown, with that same white eyebrow as the adult birds.
Goshawks present a flight profile very similar to buteos, but their long, thin rounded tails mark them as accipiters. They appear light-colored with dark bands on their outer wings, a white tail edge, and a white underbelly.
These large raptors hunt both the interior and edges of forests, or along the edges of both. They wait perched on branches until a potential meal is spotted, then they dive down with incredible speed to pick off their prey.
Their food sources of choice are rabbits (cottontails in Massachusetts), snowshoe hares, and tree and ground squirrels and birds. They will also take reptiles and small mammals, with an occasional foray into insects and even carrion dependent on the conditions.
This powerful hawk is aggressive when there are eggs or young in their nests. It will kill other raptors, including owls, and will also attack humans if they get too close.
Bird Notes
Goshawk means “Goose Hawk” in Old English, as birds are the main food source.
These large accipiters have been kept and used in falconry for over least 2,000 years.
4. Northern Harrier
- Scientific Name Circus hudsonius
- Size 18 inches
- Wingspan 43 inches
Description
You’re driving along an open field and you spot a low-flying raptor almost eye-level, gliding over the field, its wings held in a V, long-tailed and effortlessly floating, slowly searching and drifting over the barren ground in search of food.
You’ve just encountered a Northern Harrier.
If you look closer, you’ll notice the dish-shaped owlish face and the wide white rump patch that’s always visible in flight.
Adult male Harriers have light gray heads, darker gray backs, and white breasts, giving them a ghostly appearance and the moniker “Grey Ghost.
Females are dark brown on top with the same light underparts and white rump patches.
Light underparts, black wingtips, and black secondary feathers are other field marks, but it’s that owl face and white rump patch that sets the Harrier apart.
Harriers have a way of moving low over the ground in slow, drifting patterns searching for prey.
OK, I’ll admit it – I love watching Northern Harriers, especially the Grey Ghosts. There are those birds that are a source of fascination and you just have to watch, even though you don’t know why you do it.
Bird Notes
Male Northern Harriers are known as “Grey Ghosts” for their coloration and the spectral way they float over open ground. There is no way to explain the sight of this beautiful raptor gliding over a marsh or field.
Buteo Hawks
5. Red-tailed Hawk
- Scientific Name Buteo jamaicensis
- Size 18 to 26 inches
- Wingspan 3.5 to 4.5 feet
Description
The most common hawks in North America. Red-tails come in 14 subspecies, all with different plumages. You’ll find the eastern version of the Red-tailed Hawk, known as “Red-tailed Hawk” all over Massachusetts, as most of the subspecies are found west of the Mississippi River.
Seen from below, this is a pale bird with a dark “belly band”, dark fingers (wingtips), and edges of their flight feathers. Adults are brown above, with that unique red tail. That red tail is so prominent that even if you’re looking up at the bird, the reddish tail can still be visible in most light.
While their red tails are the best field mark for this bird, the tails of juvenile or immature hawks are brown, making the ID more difficult. That’s where that belly band nails it. No belly band – look at the other Buteos on this list.
Red tails are often seen circling on the thermals in search of small mammals and snakes, with game birds such as pheasants and quail also included in their diet. Sometimes they will hunt in pairs, coasting in tight circles opposite each other.
Look for Red-tailed nests high up in the trees, where they have a commanding view over their territory. These are tall (up to 6 feet) structures constructed from dry sticks. They are quite robust, which is why Great Horned Owls will often take them over once the Red-tailed chicks have fledged and left.
Red-tailed Hawks are very aggressive when it comes to defending their nests and their territories. And since this species can be found nesting in tall trees or even suburban areas, If you get too close, there’s a good chance that you’ll be dive-bombed. These birds have huge, long talons – so keep your distance, please.
Bird Notes
Watching a movie and an eagle comes screaming from a mountaintop? That’s not an eagle. Hollywood doesn’t think that Bald Eagles sound “eagle-y” enough, so the ordinary Red-tailed Hawk call is the substitute of choice for the more regal eagle a majority of the time.
A Red-tail won’t hit the birds at your feeders, but it may be tempting to take off with your little yappy Yorkie or Chihuahua (they can carry up to about 5 pounds).
While Red-tailed Hawks are called “Chickenhawks” (with Cooper’s Hawk and Sharp-shinned Hawk), Red-tails don’t hunt or eat chickens.
6. Red-shouldered Hawk
- Scientific Name Buteo lineatus
- Size 15 to 19 inches
- Wingspan 37 to 42 inches
Description
Distinctively marked Buteo with a characteristic whistle call found across the watery woodlands of Massachusetts.
Red-shouldered Hawks show rufous-peach barred underparts, a mottled black-and-white back, and rufous “shoulders”. Both the tail and flight feathers are banded, and the wingtips appear squarish as opposed to the splayed fingers of other Buteos.
Juvenile and immature birds don’t have the reddish coloration of their parents, nor do they have the black-and-white back pattern. They may look like juvenile Red-tailed Hawks, but they don’t have the Red-tail’s belly band. They are also smaller.
Regardless of their age, all Red-shouldered Hawks show translucent white crescents on their wingtips when in flight.
From below, the reddish-brown body and “arms” are easy to recognize. Their long tails give them a sleeker flight silhouette than other Buteos.
While they still have the broad-winged look of a Buteo, Red-shouldered Hawks can also appear very Accipiter-like by flapping their wings followed by a glide.
The Red-shouldered Hawk’s diet runs from small mammals to lizards, snakes, and amphibians. On occasion, they will take birds from feeders, but other avians are not a prime food source.
Nests are often close to a water source, usually in the crook of a tree, somewhat closer to the top than the floor. They will reuse the same nest year after year, refurbishing it with twigs, grass, leaves, and conifer sprigs.
Bird Notes
The courtship of Red-shouldered Hawks features the male and female flying together and rolling over on their backs to fly upside down in unison.
7. Broad-winged Hawk
- Scientific Name Buteo Platypterus
- Size 13 inches
- Wingspan 28 to 39 inches
Description
A sturdy, small Buteo with a black-and-white banded tail found in the interior forests of Massachusetts. They can be seen at hawk watches during the fall migration.
The characteristic field mark for the Broad-winged Hawk is the white banding on their short tails. In light or dark morph, they will always show that white band.
Smaller than other Buteos, with tapered wings that come with a sort-of tip, they can turn in tighter circles when soaring on thermals than their larger cousins.
The dark morph Broad-winged Hawk is the rarer of the color variations. These birds are uniformly dark brown, with a white band on their tails. Light morph Broad-winged Hawks have brown heads and chests, barred underparts, and dark tails (with a broad white band on the tail).
Broad-winged Hawks feed mostly on mammals, amphibians, and insects. They hunt their prey from trees, poles, or any place giving them the opportunity to dive down from above.
Their nests are lower in the canopy than other raptors, staying away from the tops of trees. Two feet wide is about the maximum width of the nest, which is constructed from sticks and bark, and lined with feathers, moss, lichens, and pine needles.
Bird Notes
During migration, Broad-winged Hawks travel to Central and South America in large flocks called kettles. You can see them circling around and flying overhead at a local hawk watch.
In Massachusetts, Broad-winged Hawks are usually seen during Spring and Fall migrations, but they are rarely found in winter, unlike Rough-legged Hawks, which is only seen in the winter months.
8. Rough-legged Hawk
- Scientific Name Buteo lagopus
- Size 18 to 23 inches
- Wingspan 48-56 inches
Description
Large, narrow-winged, long-tailed Buteo that favors open country. A winter visitor to Massachusetts and the Northeast, they can be found perched on trees and posts near open areas or hovering above fields searching for prey.
The name “Rough-legged” comes from the covering of feathers on their legs and feet.
In either dark or light morphs, the characteristic field marks of the Rough-legged Hawk are the dark wrists and black belly band, banded tail and flight feathers, and feathered legs and toes. Males tend to have darker heads and sparser belly bands. Female Rough-leg heads are lighter, while their belly bands are broader and darker than the males.
Juveniles have white panels in their primary feathers (close to the wingtips).
Dark morph birds have paler flight feathers, giving them a two-toned underwing. Their tails show white bands. Their backs and bellies are mottled and their underparts may vary from brown to dark chocolate brown.
Male light morph birds are more mottled on the back and wings than the females. The female’s belly band is more noticeable.
Hunting grounds of Rough-legged Hawks can be open fields, farmland, grasslands, coastal prairies or marshes.
Rough-legged Hawks prowl the Arctic tundra in search of voles and lemmings, but when in their southern Winter range, rodents, small mammals, and other birds make up their diet. If New England winters are harsh, these raptors will eat carrion.
Remember, “south” is relative – it depends on where you start your journey, and for Arctic-based birds, New England is “south”.
These hawks breed in the high Arctic, building their nests from sticks of arctic plants and sometimes even caribou bones lined with grasses, feathers, and fur from prey.
Bird Notes
Rough-legged Hawks apparently can “see” vole urine, which is visible in ultraviolet light, and hunt in areas where the rodent pee is more concentrated and prey is abundant. This is something they have in common with the American Kestrel, a small falcon that also hunts by hovering over open fields.
Pandionidae Hawks
9. Osprey
- Scientific Name Pandion haliaetus
- Size 1.5 to 2 feet Wingspan 5 feet
Description
A summer visitor to Massachusetts also known as Fish Hawk, Sea Hawk, and River Hawk. Ospreys fly up from South America and begin their return trip in Fall.
A white head with a bold, brown stripe that starts behind the eye, a large brown body, and a dark tail mark this bird.
Osprey eats fish, and they are excellent anglers. They will scan the open waters below and once the food is spotted, hover over the prey, then dive feet-first to grab the fish. They are not deep divers (about 3 feet or less) so the waters of choice are usually shallow, but they will take fish that are close to the surface when they find them.
Their toes are unique in that one can reverse to grip prey with two toes front and back. Barbs on the pads of their feet allow a strong grip on slippery fish. After they get their fish, Osprey always lines it up to be head first before flying away with their dinner (a head-first fish offers less wind resistance).
That white head often makes people think of “Bald Eagle”, but there are many differences between the Ospreys and Bald Eagles. Ospreys are much smaller, they have dark, banded tails (not white), and their flight profile is totally different from our national symbol. Where Eagles fly flat, Osprey’s wings are usually bent when in flight.
A flying Osprey has long, triangular wings, giving them a silhouette that’s more streamlined than a Buteo hawk. Look for a white underwing, white belly, banded tail, and bold, striped flight feathers.
Other good field marks are their brown “wrists” and “fingertips”. The latter are splayed wide apart, showing the individual “fingers”. Their wingbeats are stiff with a rowing motion.
Their nests are built on anything tall: telephone poles, chimneys, specially-built Osprey platforms, or any place they think they can build one. Nests consist of twigs, sticks, grass, rope, and anything else that strikes the bird’s eye. Osprey will often weave colorful items like plastic bags or old clothes into their nests.
Bird Notes
Ospreys return to the same nest year after year. They are constantly adjusting and adding to the structure, building them higher and wider so that over time the nests can be more than 10 feet deep and over 6 feet wide.
While there may seem to be an abundance of Osprey in Massachusetts during the summer months, back in the 1960s and 1970s the species all but disappeared from coastal New England and the Eastern Seaboard. A pesticide used at the time built up in fresh and salt waters, affecting the Osprey’s food supply.
The pesticide, DDT, caused the birds to lay eggs with thin shells, so fewer eggs survived to hatch, and the populations crashed. Osprey, Bald Eagles, and Peregrine Falcons were seriously affected.
With DDT banned in 1972, the shells of Osprey eggs and other birds affected by the pesticide became thicker and now there are Osprey everywhere on the East Coast again.
Osprey and other Birds of Prey are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.
Other hawks and hawk-like birds that may be found in Massachusetts
In addition to the hawks, there are Bald Eagles, four falcon species (American Kestrels, Merlin, Peregrine, and Gyrfalcon), and both Turkey and the rarer Black Vultures being seen in Massachusetts. If you’re really lucky, you may even find a stray spring Swallow-tail Kite flyover.
Where to find Hawks in Massachusetts?
Hawks can be found anywhere throughout Massachusetts, from the mountains to the coast, from the forests to the beaches.
Be observant wherever you are. I’ve done a lot of double-takes when walking a trail, going back a few steps to find a hawk sitting on a branch. I’ve also looked up and seen their silhouette against the open (or urban) sky, or found them on large branches along the highways.
Hawk Watches are great places to find migrating raptors of various species. In Massachusetts, one of these spots is Wachusett Mountain State Reservation in Princeton MA is a good viewing spot for Spring and Fall Migration.
The road goes all the way to the summit and the parking lot seems to be a hotspot for fall viewing; in Spring it’s the Ledges parking lot that has the best viewing. Not as many falcons are seen here, but there are definitely hawks.
Mt. Tom State Reservation, Easthampton MA is a Spring and Fall migration location, but crowding at the Goat’s Peak Tower in fall may make you want to find a different location. North of Boston, Parker River National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) near Newburyport MA is a Spring Migration hotspot. (See “27 Ducks in Massachusetts” for my “go visit an NWR” pitch.)
While not considered a happening location for hawks, Cape Cod offers dunes and some structures that are active in the Spring Migration. Fort Hill, Marconi Station, Cape Cod Light, and Beach Forest offer migrating hawks and falcons, and maybe some rarities.
At many of the Hawk Watches, the enumerators at these locations are incredibly knowledgeable (and eagle-eyed) and may have some great tips on identification. Check the individual websites to see when the watches are manned to tap their expertise.
Besides, seeing a hawk in flight up close is a breathtaking sight.
We hope you’ve enjoyed this little guide to the hawks you’ll find in Massachusetts. All you need to start is a decent pair of binoculars and a good location. Get out there and see all the amazing hawks found in Massachusetts.
