7 Hawks Found in Illinois in 2023 (Pictures & Facts)

Last updated 18-04-2023 by Mathias

In this article, we try to help you answer the question: What species of hawks can I find in Illinois?

Illinois has over 400 different bird species, but this list will only highlight 7. This article will go over the seven different types of hawks found in the great state of Illinois. Illinois is a state in the United States’ midwest. Illinois is known as “The Prarie State” because of its farmland, rolling hills, wetlands, and forests. Chicago, Illinois, is one of the largest cities in the United States.

Hawks in Illinois come in all shapes and sizes, live in a variety of habitats, and eat a variety of foods ranging from insects to reptiles to mammals. Discover the distinct characteristics of each species and observe them up close in a variety of locations across the state.

1 Sharp-shinned Hawk

Image: © Vickie Anderson | Macaulay Library

Scientific name	Accipiter striatus
Length	9.4-13.4 in (24-34 cm)
Weight	3.1-7.7 oz (87-218 g)
Wingspan	16.9-22.1 in (43-56 cm)

The male Sharp-shinned Hawk is similar in size to the American Kestrel, which is slightly bigger than a jay. Female Sharp-shinned Hawks are approximately one-third larger than the males, almost as big as the male Cooper’s Hawk. This hawk is small, long-tailed, with short, rounded wings. Their heads are relatively small. The tail of the Sharp-shinned Hawk is usually square-tipped and may have a notch at the end. The colors of this hawk are salty blue up above, with red horizontal bars that go down the breast. The immature hawks are mainly brown with vertical streaks on the underparts.

Sharp-shinned Hawks are very agile fliers that will often speed through dense woods and surprise their prey. These hawks will not stoop on prey from up overhead, instead, they will pounce from low perches. The prey of the Sharp-shinned Hawk mostly consists of other birds, specifically, songbirds.

Being resident to long-distance migrants, the Sharp-shinned Hawk population of the Appalachians and Western mountains will remain there all year-round. However, the hawk population that breeds in the northern United States and Canada will leave their breeding grounds and winter around the rest of the continental United States, sometimes even as far south as southern Central America.

Look out for these very secretive hawks whilst they fly across open areas, they use a unique flap-and-glide flight pattern that is characteristic of the Sharp-shinned Hawk. The most likely time you will spot a Sharp-shinned Hawk is during their migration, at hawk watch sites these hawks are the most plentiful. Sometimes this hawk will visit rural or suburban areas if they have tree cover and bird feeders with spilled grain that encourage small birds.

At least 12 years and 2 months were how old the oldest recorded Sharp-shinned Hawk was. This hawk was originally captured during banding operations in Minnesota in 1999, 10 years later, in 2009 he was recaptured and rereleased in the same state.

2 Cooper’s Hawk

Image: © Jean-Sébastien Mayer | Macaulay Library

Scientific name	Accipiter cooperii
Length	14.6-15.3 in (37-39 cm)
Weight	7.8-14.5 oz (220-410 g)
Wingspan	24.4-35.4 in (62-90 cm)

The Cooper’s Hawk is quite a bit larger than the Sharp-shinned Hawk, similar in size to a crow, however, the males are usually much smaller. The shoulders of this hawk are broad, the tail is rounded, and their head appears quite large. Cooper’s Hawks are medium-sized hawks and are the classic accipiter shape with broad, rounded wings and a super long tail. These hawks are mostly steel blue-grey up above, with reddish bars on the upper parts.

Mainly using a flap-flap-glide pattern similar to most accipiters, the Cooper’s Hawk will sometimes never flap continuously as they cross large open areas. When in pursuit of prey, this hawk will use a maneuver of flying very fast and very low to the ground, then going up and over obstructions to surprise the prey on the other side.

Cooper’s Hawks can usually be found wintering over most of the continental United States, some birds will even migrate as far south as Honduras and southern Mexico. The Cooper’s Hawk is a short to a medium-distance migrant. They can be seen in Illinois all year long.

Keeping your eyes peeled is a simple way of finding a Cooper’s Hawk, they are common but can be very stealthy, they are quite a bit smaller than most common hawks in the United States such as the Red-tailed Hawk. Look out for their characteristic flap-flap-glide flight pattern and their super-long tails. Hawk watches on ridgetops are good ways to spot Cooper’s Hawks during their migration, both the East and West are amazing places to spot many Cooper’s Hawks.

The way these hawks hunt is by dashing through vegetation at tremendously high speeds, this can take a toll on the Cooper’s Hawk. In a study including more than 300 Cooper’s Hawk skeletons, 23 percent showed old, healed-over fractures of the bones in the chest, furcula, and wishbone.

3 Northern Goshawk

Image: © Robert Post | Macaulay Library

Scientific name	Accipiter gentilis
Length	20.9-25.2 in (53-64 cm)
Weight	22.3-48.1 oz (631-1364 g)
Wingspan	40.5-46.1 in (103-117 cm)

The female Northern Goshawk is almost as large as the Red-tailed Hawk, the males, however, are only slightly bigger than the female Cooper’s Hawk. The Northern Goshawk is in between the size of a crow and a goose. This hawk has wingtips that almost look pointed whilst in flight and long secondary flight feathers that have a curved or bulging appearance. The adult birds are a dark slate grey color up above and are barred pale grey on the underparts. The head of the Northern Goshawk is very dark with a white stripe over the eye. The immature birds are mostly brown with streaks.

This hawk is very secretive, they usually live in large tracts of forest and you can have a hard time spotting them. When the Northern Goshawk is near its nest, they can be very loud and vocal, they are also very defensive of their nests and have been known to attack people who come too close to their nests. The Northern Goshawk doesn’t typically appear around populated areas, if you see any accipiter-shaped hawks in a town, it is most likely a Cooper’s Hawk, not a Northern Goshawk.

The Old English name for the Northern Goshawk is “Goose Hawk”, this refers to this hawk’s habit of consistently preying on birds. For more than 2,000 years falconers have been training Northern Goshawks. They were once named the “Cook’s Hawk” for their ability to capture food that was great to eat.

Attila the Hun was the ruler of the Huns from the year 434 until his death in 453, he is considered one of the most powerful rulers in all of world history. This leader of a tribal empire would wear an image of the Northern Goshawk on the helmet he wore into battle.

4 Red-shouldered Hawk

Image: © Eric Keith | Macaulay Library

Scientific name	Buteo lineatus
Length	16.9-24.0 in (43-61 cm)
Weight	17.1-27.3 oz (486-774 g)
Wingspan	37.0-43.7 in (94-111 cm)

The Red-shouldered Hawk is quite noticeably smaller than the Red-tailed Hawk, but they are larger than the Broad-winged Hawk. This hawk is in between the sizes of a crow and a goose. For a hawk, the Red-shouldered Hawk is medium-sized, they often like to glide or even soar with their wingtips pushed slightly outwards. The Red-shouldered Hawk has broad, rounded wings with mid-lengthed tails that often fan out when soaring. The adult Red-shouldered Hawk is a very colorful bird, they have black-and-white almost checkerboard patterned wings. On the breast, they have warm red barring. The tail of this gawk is black with narrow white bands.

The Red-shouldered Hawk will often soar high over forests or even perch on tree branches and utility wires. This hawk mainly preys on small mammals, reptiles, and even amphibians. Red-shoulder Hawks will hunt for prey whilst flying, or from their perches. This bird has a very distinctive and characteristic call, it has been described as a whistled kee-rah, and has become a distinctive sound of the forest.

A terrific way to spot the Red-shouldered Hawk is to learn their signature whistle. Listen out for these hawks around wet forests, you can spot them hunting from their perches along streams and ponds. Red-shouldered Hawks can be seen in spring, circling up high above their nesting area, you can see the pale crescents of their wingtips that the sunlight shines through.

Red-shouldered Hawks return to the same nesting territory every single year. For one hawk kept returning to the same nesting territory in southern California for around 16 consecutive years. The oldest ever recorded Red-shouldered Hawk was a female located in California, this hawk was first captured and banded in 1974, 26 years later, the same hawk was recaptured and rebanded. This Red-shouldered Hawk was at least 25 years and 10 months old.

5 Broad-winged Hawk

Image: © David Brown | Macaulay Library

Scientific name	Buteo platypterus
Length	13.4-17.3 in (34-44 cm)
Weight	9.3-19.8 oz (265-560 g)
Wingspan	31.9-39.4 in (81-100 cm)

Slightly smaller than the Red-shouldered Hawk, the Broad-winged Hawk is a very small and compact raptor. They are equipped with chunky bodies and quite large heads. Whilst in flight, the broad wings of this hawk come to a very distinct point. The tail of the Broad-winged Hawk is quite short and square-shaped. The adult hawks have red-brown heads, and on the underparts, they are barred. The tails of these hawks have broad white and black bands. In comparison to the adult birds, the juvenile hawks are light brown with coarse streaks on the underparts.

The Broad-winged Hawk likes to hunt for small animals underneath forest canopies from perches. However, sometimes they will glide up above the canopy or even across gaps over roads. They have a distinctive piercing whistling call.

During the migration of the Broad-winged Hawk is the best time to spot them, especially at hawk watches like Hawk Ridge, Minnesota, and Hawk Mountain, Pennsylvania. Sometimes this hawk will form gigantic aerial flocks, this is common around southern Texas, in Mexico around the Gulf coast in Veracruz, and along the shores of the Great Lakes. Eastern and northern forests are the best places to spot the Broad-winged Hawk during summertime, keep an ear out for the piercing whistle that is characteristic of the Broad-winged Hawk, they often give this whistle whilst circling above the forest canopy when they are more visible and easy to spot.

After sustaining an injury in 1987, a Broad-winged Hawk was captured in Florida, this hawk was discovered to be the oldest Broad-winged Hawk ever recorded. This bird was first captured in 1970 in Florida, this male hawk was at least 18 years and 4 months old.

Fossils from the late Pleistocene era of the Broad-winged Hawk have been unearthed. These fossils can be up to 400,000 years old, they were discovered in Florida, Iowa, Illinois, Virginia, and Puerto Rico.

6 Red-tailed Hawk

Image: © Brian Sullivan | Macaulay Library

Scientific name	Buteo jamaicensis
Length	17.7-22.1 in (45-56 cm)
Weight	24.3-45.9 oz (690-1300 g)
Wingspan	44.9-52.4 in (114-133 cm)

Built with the typical Buteo proportions, the Red-tailed Hawk has very broad, rounded wings, with a short but wide tail. If you see a female Red-tailed Hawk from a distance, you may be fooled into thinking you are seeing an eagle. The Red-tailed Hawk is the second-largest Buteo hawk in not just the United States, but all of North America, the first being the Ferruginous Hawk. The size comparison of this hawk is similar to most hawks, they are between the size of a goose and a crow. This hawk is rich brown up above and paler down below. The bellies of the Red-tailed Hawk are streaked.

This hawk will attack in a slow and controlled dive, keeping its legs outstretched, this is in many ways different from a falcon’s stoop. Red-tailed Hawks like to soar in wide circles high up above a field. The wingbeats this hawk uses are very heavy, in high winds, the Red-tailed Hawk sometimes faces the wind and hover without flapping.

The Red-tailed Hawk can often be found along fenceposts or in the open sky, so one of the best ways of spotting one of these hawks is to go for a drive. The first hawk you see will most likely be a Red-tailed Hawk, look out for the buteo shape, broad, rounded wings, with short tails. Along most of North America, Red-tailed Hawks are far more numerous in winter.

One of the largest birds you could ever see in North America is the Red-tailed Hawk, despite their great size, the females only weigh about 3 pounds. If you had a dog similar in size to a Red-tailed Hawk, it would weigh ten times that.

Red-tailed Hawks can often be seen hunting in pairs, they will guard opposite sides of a tree in search of squirrels.

7 Rough-legged Hawk

Image: © Bryce Robinson | Macaulay Library

Scientific name	Buteo platypterus
Length	13.4-17.3 in (34-44 cm)
Weight	9.3-19.8 oz (265-560 g)
Wingspan	31.9-39.4 in (81-100 cm)

The Rough-legged Hawk is quite a large species of hawk, they have broad wings that are long and narrow compared to most Buteo hawks. The tail of the Rough-legged Hawk is longer than many other buteo hawks. The wingtips of this bird are very broad and swept back from the wrist, making the wings have a hint of an M shape. Rough-legged Hawks are boldly patterned and mostly dark brown.

When on the hunt, the Rough-legged Hawk will often face the wind to hover, while doing this, they are busy at work scanning the ground beneath them in search of small mammal prey. Often found perched on fence posts and utility poles, the Rough-legged Hawk will sometimes even perch on slender branches on the very tops of trees. When in flight this hawk will keep their wings raised in what is known as a slight dihedral, or a V-shape.

The Rough-legged Hawk breeds up north in the Arctic, the best bet at catching a glimpse of one of these hawks is to find one near you in winter. When out in the open country keep an eye out for a large, chunky raptor hovering in the wind, similar to the American Kestrel and White-tailed Kite. The Rough-legged Hawk likes to perch on fence posts and utility poles, they will sometimes even stay on the ground, or up high on slender branches in the tops of trees.

In 1979, a banding operation in Indiana had captured a Rough-legged Hawk. The scientists running the operation soon discovered that this hawk was the oldest Rough-legged Hawk ever recorded. This female raptor was 17 years and 9 months old.

In the non-breeding season, adult Rough-legged Hawks will eat around a quarter pound of food every day. That is a tenth of their body mass or 5 small mammals. At just 16 days old, nestlings will start feeding themselves. The way the juvenile Rough-legged Hawks feed themselves is by swallowing lemming whole.

7 Most common hawks in Illinois:

1. Sharp-shinned Hawk
2. Cooper’s Hawk
3. Northern Goshawk
4. Red-shouldered Hawk
5. Broad-winged Hawk
6. Red-tailed Hawk
7. Rough-legged Hawk

Hawk watching in Illinois

This midwestern state is known for its diverse wildlife, which includes several species of hawks. While the weather in Illinois can be unpredictable, these majestic birds can still be seen in their natural habitat.

Hawks are more active during the warmer months, so plan your visit for spring or summer. However, if you’re lucky, you might be able to spot some birds during the winter. During the colder months, the hawks tend to congregate in the state’s south.

When birdwatching in Illinois, it is critical to dress appropriately. Because the weather can be unpredictable, it’s best to layer up and be prepared for anything. Wear comfortable, breathable clothing, and don’t forget to bring your hat, sunglasses, and sunscreen.

To get the most out of your birdwatching trip in Illinois, you should know where to look for hawks. There are numerous natural areas throughout the state that attract various species of hawks. Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie, Wolf Road Prairie, and the LaBagh Woods are among these areas.

Hawks can also be found in cities, particularly near rivers and lakes. Keep an eye out for these magnificent birds while you’re out exploring.

Whatever you choose, you will have an unforgettable experience hawk watching in Illinois. You’ll be able to spot a variety of hawks in their natural habitat if you’re prepared and knowledgeable. So don’t forget to bring your binoculars and camera, and get started on your adventure right away!