Hawks in Maryland: Where to See Them and How to Identify Them

Yes. Hawks live in Maryland year-round and the state supports a healthy mix of resident and migrant species. You can see them from the western Appalachian ridges to the flat farmland of the Eastern Shore and even within Baltimore and the Washington suburbs. Five species are common: the Red-tailed Hawk, Red-shouldered Hawk, Cooper's Hawk, Sharp-shinned Hawk, and Broad-winged Hawk. The Rough-legged Hawk is a sixth species that visits only in the colder months. Red-tailed Hawks are the ones most people notice first, perched on roadside poles or circling over open fields on broad wings. Cooper's Hawks have adapted so well to neighborhoods that many residents see them hunting doves and pigeons near feeders. Because Maryland blends mountains, river valleys, farmland, forest, and a long coastline, it offers the varied habitat that different hawk species need, which is why the state hosts so many at once. For a wider look at the animals found across the state, see our Maryland wildlife guide.

Maryland is home to six hawk species, split between two groups. The buteos are the broad-winged, soaring hawks of open country. The Red-tailed Hawk is the largest and most familiar, with a pale chest, a dark belly band, and a brick-red tail on adults. The Red-shouldered Hawk favors wet woods and bottomland, showing rusty shoulders and a boldly banded black-and-white tail. The Broad-winged Hawk is a compact summer breeder of deeper forest, best known for the huge migratory kettles it forms in September. The Rough-legged Hawk is a winter-only visitor from the Arctic that hovers over fields hunting voles, recognizable by its dark wrist patches and feathered legs.

The accipiters are the slim, long-tailed hawks built for chasing birds through trees. The Cooper's Hawk is crow-sized with rounded wings and a long banded tail, common in suburbs and around feeders. The Sharp-shinned Hawk is its smaller, jay-sized cousin, with a squarer tail tip and a more delicate build. Telling the two accipiters apart is one of the classic challenges in Maryland birding because they look so similar. To compare every species in detail, visit our hawk identification hub.

Hawks in Maryland are most often seen in open habitats that give them good vantage points and easy hunting. The Appalachian ridges in the west, especially South Mountain and the long spine of the Catoctin range, act as migration corridors where updrafts carry traveling hawks. Coastal areas along the Chesapeake Bay and the Eastern Shore concentrate hawks during fall movement, as the birds follow the shoreline rather than crossing open water. Farmland in central and southern Maryland holds Red-tailed and Red-shouldered Hawks all year because the mix of fields and woodlots offers both perches and prey.

Reliable local spots include Soldiers Delight Natural Environment Area in Owings Mills, the Patuxent Research Refuge near Laurel, and the wooded stream valleys of the Patapsco and Gunpowder rivers. In any of these places, scan fence lines, dead snags, and utility poles for perched birds, and watch the sky over fields in the early afternoon when rising warm air helps hawks soar. Suburban parks and golf courses also draw Cooper's Hawks that hunt the songbirds gathered there.

Fall migration, from September through November, is the peak window. Broad-winged Hawks pass first, bunching into kettles of dozens to hundreds in mid-September, while Red-tailed and Red-shouldered Hawks stream through October and into November. Sharp-shinned and Cooper's Hawks also move along the ridges and coast during this stretch. Spring migration, from March through May, brings hawks back north and can be productive, though the birds are more spread out and harder to count than in autumn.

The best time of day is mid-morning to early afternoon. Hawks rely on thermals, the columns of warm rising air that form once the sun has heated the ground, so activity builds after about 10 a.m. and stays strong until late afternoon. Clear days with light northwest winds following a cold front produce the heaviest flights, because the wind pushes migrating hawks toward the ridges where they are easy to watch. Resident Red-tailed and Red-shouldered Hawks, by contrast, can be found hunting on almost any day of the year.

Start with size and shape, then refine with field marks. Red-tailed Hawks are bulky with broad rounded wings, a short fanned tail, a pale chest crossed by a dark belly band, and a rusty tail on adults. Red-shouldered Hawks are slimmer, with rusty shoulders, a strongly banded tail, and translucent crescents near the wingtips that glow when backlit. Cooper's Hawks are medium-sized accipiters with short rounded wings and a long banded tail, often seen darting low through woods or yards. Sharp-shinned Hawks look like a smaller, more compact version of the Cooper's, with a squared-off tail tip rather than a rounded one.

Watch out for lookalikes. Turkey Vultures hold their wings in a shallow V and rock side to side as they soar, which no hawk does. Ospreys are large with a strong wrist bend and a white belly, usually seen near water. Bald Eagles are far bigger, with a white head and tail on adults and a flat-winged soar. Judging the overall flight style, called the bird's jizz by birders, often settles the question faster than any single field mark. For side-by-side silhouettes and detailed marks, use our hawk identification hub, and see the Maryland hawk guide for the next step.