Birds of Prey Facts For Kids (Hawks, Falcons & Eagles)

What birds have eyes like telescopes, claws like grappling hooks, and can spot a mouse from a mile away? Birds of prey! These powerful hunters are also called raptors. Hawks, eagles, falcons, ospreys, and kites all belong to this amazing group. Raptors rule the skies on every continent except Antarctica. They soar high above the ground, searching for food with the sharpest eyesight in the animal kingdom. From the tiny American kestrel to the mighty golden eagle, birds of prey are some of the most exciting animals on Earth!

Quick Facts

Scientific Name: Orders Accipitriformes & Falconiformes
Type: Bird (raptor)
Diet: Carnivore (rodents, fish, birds, insects)
Size: 6 inches to 7+ feet wingspan
Weight: 3 ounces to 15+ pounds
Lifespan: 10-30+ years (varies by species)
Habitat: Every continent except Antarctica
Conservation Status: Varies by species

What Do Birds of Prey Look Like?

Birds of prey are built for hunting! They have strong, hooked beaks designed for tearing meat. Their feet have powerful, curved talons that grip prey like a vice. Most raptors have broad wings for soaring or long, pointed wings for speed. Eagles and hawks are usually brown, gray, or white with streaked or barred feathers. Falcons often have sleek, pointed wings and dark markings near their eyes!

Raptor eyes are their most incredible feature! Birds of prey have the sharpest eyesight of any animal. A red-tailed hawk can spot a rabbit from over a mile away. Their eyes are huge compared to their head size. If human eyes were the same proportion, our eyes would be as big as oranges! Many raptors have a bony ridge above their eyes that shades them from the sun like a built-in visor!

Different raptors come in very different sizes! The American kestrel is about the size of a robin. The golden eagle has a wingspan of over 7 feet. Ospreys have long, crooked wings designed for diving into water. Harris's hawks have reddish-brown shoulders and a banded tail. Peregrine falcons have a dark "helmet" marking on their heads. You can identify many raptors just by their shape in the sky!

Where Do Birds of Prey Live?

Birds of prey live on every continent except Antarctica! Red-tailed hawks are the most common raptor in North America. They perch on telephone poles and fence posts along highways. Bald eagles live near rivers, lakes, and coastlines across the United States and Canada. Peregrine falcons are found worldwide, from city skyscrapers to remote mountain cliffs!

Different raptors prefer different habitats! Ospreys live near water because they eat mostly fish. Cooper's hawks hunt in forests and wooded neighborhoods. Prairie falcons love open grasslands and deserts. Northern harriers fly low over marshes and meadows. Some raptors even live in cities! Peregrine falcons nest on tall buildings, and red-tailed hawks hunt in parks!

Many birds of prey are great travelers! Some raptors migrate thousands of miles each year. Broad-winged hawks travel from North America to Central and South America every fall. Swainson's hawks fly all the way to Argentina. They ride columns of warm rising air called thermals to save energy. During migration, thousands of raptors can pass a single spot in one day!

What Do Birds of Prey Eat?

Raptors are carnivores that hunt live prey! Red-tailed hawks eat mice, rabbits, squirrels, and snakes. Bald eagles eat mostly fish but also hunt ducks and rabbits. Cooper's hawks are bird-catching specialists that chase songbirds through the trees. Each raptor species has its own hunting style and favorite foods!

Falcons are the speed hunters of the bird world! Peregrine falcons dive at speeds over 200 miles per hour to catch birds in midair. That makes them the fastest animals on Earth! American kestrels hover in place, then drop down on grasshoppers and mice. Merlins chase small birds in fast, twisting flights through open country!

Ospreys are the fishing experts among raptors! They hover over water, then plunge feet-first to grab fish with their talons. Ospreys have special rough pads on their feet that help grip slippery fish. They can even rotate their outer toe backward for a better hold. After catching a fish, ospreys turn it head-forward in their talons to reduce wind drag while flying!

Cool Facts About Birds of Prey

Fastest animal alive: The peregrine falcon is the fastest animal on Earth! In a hunting dive called a stoop, it can reach over 240 miles per hour. That's faster than most race cars! Peregrines fold their wings tight against their bodies to become like a feathered missile. Special baffles in their nostrils let them breathe at these extreme speeds!
Super vision: Raptors can see 4 to 8 times better than humans! A golden eagle can spot a rabbit from over 2 miles away. Birds of prey have two focal points in each eye, letting them see forward and to the side at the same time. They can also see ultraviolet light that humans cannot. Their eyesight is designed for spotting the tiniest movement far below!
Talon power: A golden eagle's talons can squeeze with 400 pounds of pressure per square inch! That's ten times stronger than a human hand grip. Great horned owls have even stronger grips. Once a raptor locks its talons, the prey cannot escape. Their feet are their main weapons—the beak is just used for eating!
Team hunters: Harris's hawks are the only raptors that hunt in teams! A group of 2 to 6 hawks works together like a wolf pack. Some hawks flush prey out of hiding while others wait to catch it. They take turns chasing and blocking escape routes. After a successful hunt, the whole group shares the meal!
City falcons: Peregrine falcons have moved into cities around the world! Tall buildings remind them of their natural cliff habitats. City peregrines hunt pigeons, starlings, and other urban birds. Special nest boxes on skyscrapers and bridges help them raise their young. Many cities have webcams so people can watch falcon families live online!
Bald eagle comeback: Bald eagles almost went extinct in the 1960s due to a pesticide called DDT! Scientists banned DDT and bred eagles in captivity. By 2007, bald eagles were removed from the endangered species list. Today, over 300,000 bald eagles live in North America. It's one of the greatest wildlife recovery stories ever!
Osprey fishing: Ospreys catch fish on about 70% of their dives! They're the only raptor that plunges completely underwater to grab fish. Ospreys have closable nostrils to keep water out during dives. Their feet have tiny spines for gripping wet, slippery fish. After catching a fish, they shake off water in midair like a wet dog!
Designed for hunting: Every part of a raptor is suited for catching prey! Hooked beaks tear meat. Powerful talons grip and hold. Sharp eyesight spots food from far away. Strong wings carry heavy prey. Even their feathers are special—many raptors have notched wing feathers that reduce noise during flight. Birds of prey are perfectly made for their role as sky hunters!

Baby Bird of Prey Facts

Most raptors build large stick nests called eyries! Eagles build the biggest nests of any bird. One bald eagle nest in Florida weighed over 4,400 pounds! Hawks and eagles add new sticks each year, making their nests bigger over time. Peregrine falcons don't build nests at all. They lay eggs on bare cliff ledges or building ledges!

Mother raptors lay 1 to 5 eggs depending on the species! The eggs are usually white or spotted. The mother does most of the sitting on the eggs while the father hunts for food. Eagle eggs take about 35 days to hatch. Falcon eggs hatch in about 29 to 33 days. Baby raptors are covered in fluffy white or gray down!

Baby raptors are called eyasses! They're born helpless with their eyes open but can barely move. The parents tear tiny pieces of meat and feed them beak-to-beak. Baby raptors grow fast—a bald eagle chick goes from egg-size to nearly adult-size in just 12 weeks! As they grow, their fluffy down is replaced by real feathers!

Learning to fly is the biggest challenge for young raptors! Baby eagles and hawks practice by flapping their wings on the nest for weeks. Their first flight is called fledging. Many young raptors crash-land on their first attempts! Parents continue feeding their young for several weeks after they leave the nest. Young raptors must learn to hunt on their own before they can survive alone!

Why Are Birds of Prey Special?

Birds of prey are the top predators of the sky! They help control populations of rodents, rabbits, and pest birds. A single red-tailed hawk can eat over 1,000 mice in a year. Without raptors, rodent populations would explode. Farmers especially benefit from the free pest control that hawks and owls provide!

Raptors are important signs of a healthy environment! Because they sit at the top of the food chain, raptors are affected by pollution first. When bald eagles started dying from DDT, scientists knew something was wrong with the whole ecosystem. Healthy raptor populations tell us that the air, water, and land are in good shape!

Humans have admired birds of prey for thousands of years! Falconry—hunting with trained hawks and falcons—is one of the oldest sports in the world. Eagles appear on the flags, coins, and symbols of many nations. The bald eagle is the national bird of the United States. Raptors represent power, freedom, and sharp vision in cultures around the globe!

Protecting birds of prey helps entire ecosystems! When we save raptor habitats, we also protect forests, wetlands, grasslands, and the countless species that share those homes. Conservation programs have brought many raptor species back from the edge of extinction. These incredible sky hunters deserve our respect and protection for generations to come!