Caught on Camera: Red-Tailed Hawk Perched Over I-95 North

FAIRFAX COUNTY, VA -- You never know what VDOT cameras might capture -- crazy traffic jams, icy roadways or sometimes a Red-Tailed Hawk. This little guy (a bird expert says the bird is a juvenile) has a pensive look while perched over traffic in front of a VDOT camera on Interstate 95 North, south of Old Keene Mill Road. VDOT posted the bird's photo online Tuesday. The bird hung out at the spot Tuesday for about 40 minutes, according to a VDOT spokeswoman.

Gabby Hryycyshyn, executive director of the Raptor Conservancy of Virginia, gave us some of her observations of the hawk:

"He or she is fluffed out to stay warm. The distinctive markings are the 'belly band' of spots across the chest and the shape of the head. The overall coloration, very drab in shades of brown, including a brown tail which we can't really see here, mark it as a juvenile, which means a bird born in spring 2016. In the summer of 2017 the bird will go through a full molt and grow out its new red tail. Many juvenile birds end up hunting near roadsides, in part attracted to roadkill and to the mice and other rodents that eat garbage thrown out by folks driving by."

Here's what The Cornell Lab of Ornithology says about the Red Tailed Hawk: "This is probably the most common hawk in North America. If you’ve got sharp eyes you’ll see several individuals on almost any long car ride, anywhere. Red-tailed Hawks soar above open fields, slowly turning circles on their broad, rounded wings. Other times you’ll see them atop telephone poles, eyes fixed on the ground to catch the movements of a vole or a rabbit, or simply waiting out cold weather before climbing a thermal updraft into the sky."

• Behavior: You’ll most likely see Red-tailed Hawks soaring in wide circles high over a field. When flapping, their wingbeats are heavy. In high winds they may face into the wind and hover without flapping, eyes fixed on the ground. They attack in a slow, controlled dive with legs outstretched – much different from a falcon’s stoop.
• Habitat: The Red-tailed Hawk is a bird of open country. Look for it along fields and perched on telephones poles, fenceposts, or trees standing alone or along edges of fields.

You can hear what a Red-Tailed Hawk sounds like by visiting the Cornell page here.