10 Types of Hawks in Washington State (And How to Identify Them)
October 25, 2026
Scan any fence post along a rural highway in eastern Washington and there’s a decent chance a hawk is scanning right back. Washington state hosts ten distinct hawk species across its coastline, shrub-steppe, mountain forests, and farmland, and each one has carved out its own hunting style and habitat niche. Some, like the red-tailed hawk, are year-round neighbors you’ll spot almost anywhere; others, like the ferruginous hawk, show up only in a handful of grassland counties and only during the warmer months.
Telling them apart takes more than just noting “big bird, hooked beak.” Tail shape, wing silhouette, flight pattern, and even the season can all narrow down an identification before the bird ever lands. This guide walks through all ten species found in the state, what makes each one distinctive, and where in Washington you’re most likely to cross paths with them.
| Hawk | Typical Size | Washington Status | Best Habitat to Spot |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red-tailed Hawk | Large | Year-round, statewide | Open fields, highways |
| Cooper’s Hawk | Medium | Year-round, statewide | Woodlands, backyards |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | Small | Year-round, more common in migration | Dense forest edges |
| Northern Goshawk | Large | Uncommon year-round resident | Mature conifer forest |
| Rough-legged Hawk | Large | Winter only | Open farmland, marshes |
| Northern Harrier | Medium | Year-round, more common in winter | Marshes, grasslands |
| Swainson’s Hawk | Medium-large | Rare summer breeder, eastern WA | Shrub-steppe, farmland |
| Ferruginous Hawk | Very large | Rare, state-threatened | Shrub-steppe grassland |
| Red-shouldered Hawk | Medium | Rare, mostly western WA | Wet woodlands, streams |
| Broad-winged Hawk | Small-medium | Very rare vagrant | Deciduous woodland edges |
1. Red-tailed Hawk
The red-tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) is the hawk most Washington residents already know, even if they don’t know its name. According to Cornell Lab’s All About Birds, the Red-tailed Hawk is one of the largest birds you’ll see in North America, yet even the biggest females weigh in at only about 3 pounds, a similar-sized small dog might weigh 10 times that. That’s a useful reminder that size alone can be deceiving when you’re trying to identify a raptor from the ground.
In flight, look for the classic buteo shape. Cornell notes that the eastern subspecies tends to have a plain red tail with a neat black band near the tip, while it’s a large hawk with broad, rounded wings and a short tail, interspersing slow, heavy wingbeats with gliding and soaring. According to Earth of Birds, the Red-tailed Hawk is the most widespread hawk in Washington, often seen sitting on telephone poles or circling above highways, with a rusty-red tail that’s a reliable marker in adults, hunting by swooping down on small mammals like mice and rabbits.
Its voice is arguably as recognizable as its silhouette. Birds & Blooms points out that the red-tailed hawk has a distinctive sounding call, a high-pitched shrill that’s often featured as nature sound effects in TV shows and movies. If you’ve ever watched a movie scene with an eagle onscreen but heard a screeching cry, odds are that sound actually came from a red-tail. Anyone comparing raptor silhouettes might also want to check out this state’s guide to Washington’s eagle species, since juvenile bald eagles are frequently mistaken for large hawks at a distance.
2. Cooper’s Hawk
Cooper’s hawk (Accipiter cooperii) is the backyard bird-feeder hawk, though it isn’t there for the seed. Cornell describes it as among the bird world’s most skillful fliers, common woodland hawks that tear through cluttered tree canopies in high speed pursuit of other birds, most often spotted prowling above a forest edge or field using just a few stiff wingbeats followed by a glide. That flap-flap-glide rhythm is one of the fastest ways to identify an accipiter before you even see the colors.
Up close, adults are steely blue-gray above with warm reddish bars on the underparts and thick dark bands on the tail, while juveniles are brown above and crisply streaked with brown on the upper breast, giving them a somewhat hooded look, per Cornell’s identification notes. This species has staying power, too. The lab’s records show the oldest recorded Cooper’s Hawk was a male at least 20 years, 4 months old, banded in California in 1986 and found in Washington in 2006. If a hawk is dive-bombing your finches or juncos, a Cooper’s hawk is a common suspect. Readers curious about the songbirds these hawks target can check this rundown of finches found in Washington state.
Pro Tip: Cooper’s hawks fly with an upright, straight-backed posture when perched, while their smaller lookalike tends to look more hunched. If the bird’s head projects noticeably beyond its wings in flight, lean toward Cooper’s hawk rather than sharp-shinned.
3. Sharp-shinned Hawk
The sharp-shinned hawk (Accipiter striatus) is Washington’s smallest hawk and the one most often confused with its larger cousin. Earth of Birds sums up the challenge well: the Sharp-shinned Hawk is the smallest hawk in Washington, quick and specialized in hunting small birds, found in thick forests especially during migration. Beginners frequently misidentify juveniles, but there’s a reliable trick.
According to that same source, beginners often mistake juveniles for Cooper’s Hawks, but sharp-shinned hawks have a more square tail and delicate build. Size comparison helps too, since Sharp-shinned Hawks are close to a blue jay in size, while Red-tailed Hawks are much larger. During spring and fall, migrating sharp-shinned and Cooper’s hawks are sometimes seen traveling together in loose groups, since Sharp-shinned and Cooper’s Hawks migrate in spring and fall, often seen in groups called “kettles”.
Here’s a quick sequence for separating the two accipiters in the field:
- Check tail shape first — squared-off tips suggest sharp-shinned, while a longer, rounded tail points to Cooper’s.
- Compare head size relative to the body — a small, rounded head fits sharp-shinned, while a larger head that projects past the wings in flight fits Cooper’s.
- Note overall bulk — sharp-shinned hawks look noticeably slighter and more delicate, closer to songbird-sized.
- Watch flight style — both use a flap-flap-glide pattern, but Cooper’s tends to hold longer, steadier glides.
4. Northern Goshawk
The northern goshawk (Accipiter gentilis), sometimes now referred to as the American goshawk following recent taxonomic revisions, is the largest and least often seen of the state’s three accipiters. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife notes that goshawks in Washington nest almost exclusively in coniferous forest, mostly late-seral stage, although a few nests have been found in aspen groves within the larger coniferous forest landscape in Okanogan County. Distribution data backs this up, since goshawks in the state are most common along the eastern Cascades, though found in most mid- to high-elevation mature forests, and in western Washington they are not found below the Western Hemlock zone or in any lowland areas, according to the NatureMapping Foundation.
Adults are unmistakable once seen well. BirdWeb describes the largest of the three North American accipiters, solid gray above with finely barred, lighter gray below, and a distinctive white bar over its red eyes. Diet-wise, WDFW records show goshawks are opportunistic foragers, and in Washington, Douglas’ squirrel, grouse, and snowshoe hare were the most frequently represented prey species in the Cascade range.
Important Note: Population figures for this species are dated. WDFW’s own records show that as of 2003, there were 338 documented breeding territories in the state, though the exact number is not known because monitoring is not currently being conducted. Treat any specific count for this species as an estimate rather than a current census.
Conservation status is a genuine concern for this species. While Northern Goshawks have been expanding their range in some areas of the Northeast in recent decades, many populations are still considered threatened, and logging is the largest threat to Northern Goshawks in Washington, per BirdWeb. The federal government similarly flags forest management as a factor, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s species profile notes that nests are typically constructed in the largest coniferous or deciduous trees available, with eggs produced in late April or early May and clutch sizes usually ranging from around 2-4 eggs. Readers interested in the state’s other forest-dependent birds of prey can compare notes with this guide to owls found in Washington state, and those tracking at-risk species statewide may also want to browse this list of endangered animals in Washington.
5. Rough-legged Hawk
The rough-legged hawk (Buteo lagopus) is a hawk you’ll only meet in Washington during the colder months. As Earth of Birds puts it plainly, the Rough-legged Hawk is a winter visitor, arriving from Arctic breeding grounds to spend the season hunting over open farmland, prairies, and marshland in the state’s lowlands. It’s a large buteo, close in size to a red-tailed hawk, but built for a different hunting style.
Rather than perching on a single high vantage point for long stretches the way a red-tail often does, rough-legged hawks are known for hovering on set wings above open ground while scanning for voles and other small rodents below. Feathered legs — the source of its common name — help this species tolerate the cold snaps that arrive with its winter range. Farmland and grassland birders in eastern Washington’s Columbia Basin have the best odds of spotting one between November and March.
- Best season to look: late fall through early spring
- Best habitat: open farmland, wetland edges, prairie remnants
- Key ID clue: frequent hovering flight over open ground, unlike a red-tail’s steadier soaring
6. Northern Harrier
The northern harrier (Circus hudsonius) hunts unlike any other hawk in this list, and its flight style alone gives it away. Earth of Birds notes that Northern Harriers glide low with wings in a V, a flight pattern distinct from the Red-tailed Hawk’s habit of soaring in wide circles. That low, tilting glide over open marsh and grassland, wings held in a shallow dihedral, is often visible from a moving car well before any plumage detail comes into focus.
Harriers rely on hearing as much as sight to locate prey hidden in tall grass, a trait that gives them an owl-like facial disc most other hawks lack. Males are pale gray above, while females and juveniles run brown, but both sexes show a bright white rump patch that flashes clearly in flight. In Washington, harriers nest on the ground in marshes and wet meadows, making healthy wetland habitat essential to their survival. Wetland-dependent species like this one often overlap with amphibian habitat, and readers exploring related ecosystems might enjoy this overview of brown-plumaged birds found across Washington state, since female and juvenile harriers are frequently mixed up with other brown raptors and owls at a distance.
7. Swainson’s Hawk
Swainson’s hawk (Buteo swainsoni) is a summer specialty of Washington’s shrub-steppe country, and it’s one of the more range-restricted species on this list. Unlike the red-tailed hawk’s statewide presence, Swainson’s hawks breed almost exclusively in the open grassland and dryland farming regions east of the Cascades, arriving in spring and departing well before winter for an extraordinary migration to South America.
Field marks to watch for include a slim buteo build with long, narrow wings compared to a red-tail, plus a variable plumage that ranges from light morphs with a dark chest band to nearly all-dark individuals. Swainson’s hawks are highly social outside the breeding season, often gathering in large flocks over agricultural fields to hunt insects stirred up by farm equipment. Birders comparing this species with its closest regional relatives may find it useful to check hawk populations in other prairie and shrub-steppe states, such as this breakdown of hawk species found in Oklahoma or this look at hawks native to Kansas, both of which share several of the same Great Plains buteos.
8. Ferruginous Hawk
The ferruginous hawk (Buteo regalis) is North America’s largest buteo, and in Washington it’s also one of the rarest hawks a birder can hope to see. This species is tied tightly to intact shrub-steppe and grassland habitat in the state’s southeastern counties, and its population has been squeezed as that habitat has been converted to agriculture or fragmented by development.
Adults come in light and dark color morphs, but both share the same rust-colored (“ferruginous”) legs and back that give the species its name, along with a pale head and a wingspan that can stretch well over four feet. Ferruginous hawks often hunt from the ground itself, standing at the entrance of a ground squirrel burrow and waiting rather than always hunting from the air. Because its range and numbers are so limited in the state, this is considered a state-listed species of concern, and habitat loss in the shrub-steppe remains the primary long-term threat. For comparison, the shrub-steppe and prairie habitats this hawk depends on stretch into neighboring states as well, covered in this guide to Colorado’s hawk species.
Key Insight: Ferruginous and Swainson’s hawks share overlapping shrub-steppe range in eastern Washington, but ferruginous hawks are noticeably bulkier, with broader wings and that distinctive rusty leg coloring visible even at a distance.
9. Red-shouldered Hawk
The red-shouldered hawk (Buteo lineatus) is an uncommon find in Washington, occurring in small numbers mostly in wet forests and riparian corridors on the west side of the state. Cornell’s identification guide describes one of the most distinctively marked common hawks, with barred reddish-peachy underparts and a strongly banded tail, and in flight, translucent crescents near the wingtips help identify the species at a distance.
Distinguishing it from Cooper’s hawk, its closest look-alike in body proportion, comes down to shape and posture. Cornell’s species comparison notes that Cooper’s Hawks look rather slim and straight backed when perched, unlike the hunchbacked and short-tailed look of Red-shouldered Hawks, and that Cooper’s Hawks have much longer tails, more lanky proportions, and shorter wings than Red-shouldered Hawks. Listen, too — red-shouldered hawks are notably vocal for a woodland buteo, giving a repeated, high-pitched call near their nest sites in spring.
10. Broad-winged Hawk
The broad-winged hawk (Buteo platypterus) rounds out this list as the rarest of Washington’s ten hawk species, appearing only as an occasional vagrant far outside its normal eastern and midwestern range. This compact buteo is famous elsewhere in North America for forming massive migratory “kettles” of thousands of birds funneling south each fall, a spectacle almost never witnessed in Washington given how few individuals wander this far west.
When one does show up, look for a stocky, crow-sized hawk with a boldly banded black-and-white tail and a shorter, more compact wing shape than a red-tailed hawk. Juveniles are streaked below and can be trickier to separate from young red-shouldered hawks without a clear tail view. Because confirmed Washington sightings are so infrequent, any reported broad-winged hawk is typically treated as noteworthy by regional birding networks and worth documenting with photos. States within this species’ core breeding and migration corridor, like the hardwood forests covered in this guide to Wisconsin’s hawk species or the migration flyway detailed in this look at Texas hawks, offer a much better chance of a reliable sighting.
Common Mistake: Don’t assume every small, dark-tailed hawk spotted in fall migration is a broad-winged hawk. In Washington, a young red-tailed hawk or a dark-morph Swainson’s hawk is a far more likely explanation, given how rare confirmed broad-winged records actually are here.
Washington’s hawk diversity comes down to the state’s split personality — dense western forests on one side of the Cascades, open shrub-steppe and farmland on the other, with wetlands and coastline stitched around both. That range of habitat is exactly why a birder can find a marsh-hunting harrier and a forest-bound goshawk within the same state, even the same day if the drive is long enough. For a broader continental view of how these ten species fit into the bigger picture, this overview of hawks across North America is a useful next stop for anyone building out their raptor identification skills.