Among the 75 or so raptor species in North America, there is one avian predator that stands out as the essence of hawkdome. The red-tailed hawk, Buteo jamaicensis, is one of the largest and most widespread hawks in the United States. It is also one of the most majestic. Stocky and broad-winged, the birds stand nearly two feet tall with a wingspan of more than four feet. Only adults have red or rusty colored tails with juveniles sporting pale or brown tails. Underbelly is generally white with brown streaks and head hooded. There can be tremendous color variation, particularly in the West.

On the Eastern Shore, these hawks can be seen year-round, usually perched on roadside trees, signs, or telephone poles scanning the ground for mice and rabbits. The predators also enjoy squirrels, snakes and sometimes carrion but are generally too lumbering to take live birds (except in some large cities where inventive red-tails have mastered the art of pigeon snatching).

The birds are also opportunists. Near Snow Hill in 1999, birders enjoyed watching a marsh hawk grab an unsuspecting dove off the ground and begin eating it in a farm field. Seconds later a red-tailed hawk perched nearby cruised in and leveled the unsuspecting hawk as it nonchalantly dined on its quarry. A brawl ensued, which included several aerial talon locks and four exchanges of the dove. The harrier, about two-thirds the size of the red-tail, ultimately won the battle when the large female red-tail flew away in frustration.

Around Delmarva, red-tailed hawks are much more common in the winter when migrants from Canada or the northern U.S. are either passing by or wintering here. Because the birds use updrafts from mountainous terrain to aid their flight southward, they are less common on the Eastern Shore than on the Western. A majority of migrating red-tails in the coastal bays watershed are immature birds either blown east from strong winds or topographically challenged from inexperience.

During breeding in late winter, the monogamous birds can be seen hanging around their large, gangly nests. Lucky on-lookers might catch the birds' flight display which features a synchronous descent from significant heights with the male just above the female. The two float to a perch in perfect unison before ceremoniously copulating.

Red-tails also boast the distinction of having the patented screech which cinematographers often use in westerns or desert scenes. It is a raspy, intimidating scream that descends in volume and pitch. The birds have adapted well to the conversion of forest to farmland in the East, but have declined where such land has been converted for housing or commercial enterprise. The birds of prey are closely related to red-shouldered hawks, broad-winged hawks, and rough-legged hawks, all in the Buteo genus.