Winged Messenger Nations: Birds in American Indian Oral Tradition

The red-tailed hawk is the most common hawk in North America. They are found all over the continent, in Central America, and in the West Indies.

Red-tailed hawks are known for their brick-colored tails, but there are 14 subspecies of various colorations, and not all of them have this characteristic.

These birds of prey are also known as buzzard hawks and red hawks. By any name, they are keen-eyed and efficient hunters. Red-tails prefer open areas, such as fields or deserts, with high perching places nearby from which they can watch for prey. But these birds are adaptable and also dwell in mountains and tropical rain forests. Hawks have even embraced human habitats. They often perch on telephone poles and take advantage of the open spaces along the roadside to spot and seize mice, ground squirrels, rabbits, reptiles, or other prey.

Breeding season initiates a spectacular sequence of aerial acrobatics. Hawk pairs fly in large circles and gain great height before the male plunges into a deep dive and subsequent steep climb back to circling height. Later, the birds grab hold of one another with their talons and fall spiraling towards earth.

Red-tailed hawks are monogamous and may mate for life. They make stick nests high above the ground, in which the female lays one to five eggs each year. Both sexes incubate the eggs for four to five weeks, and feed the young from the time they hatch until they leave the nest about six weeks later.

The hawk, or Cetan, shows up often in Native oral histories. Jace DeCory advised that some Native leaders have spiritual bird helpers, such as Crazy Horse’s helper, the hawk. Crazy Horse showed modesty by wearing hawk feathers in his hair rather than eagle feathers. Other speakers also spoke about the spiritual guidance of the hawk and that tobacco is often offered to the Cetan. The chain of messages and prayers from human to the spiritual realms can also involve the hawk, as hawks are known in oral tradition to convey messages to the eagle.