This Red-tailed Hawk was stalking insects and small rodents in the grass at Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
The Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis), also sometimes known as a "chicken hawk", is one of the most common buteos in North America. These hawks most commonly prey on small mammals such as rodents, but they will also consume birds, fish, reptiles, and amphibians. Usually, they will eaither swoop down from an elevated location or attack in midair.
These hawks breed throughout most of North America, from western Alaska and northern Canada to as far south as Panama and the West Indies. There are fourteen recognized subspecies, which vary in appearance and range. The Red-tail typically has a wingspan of 43 to 57 inches, being 18 to 26 inches in length and weighing 1.5 to 3.5 pounds, thus making it one of the largest members of the genus Buteo in North America.