Ask A Scientist© Zoology Archive

name        Mia
status      student
age         20s

Question -  What is a "chicken hawk" and do you know what they sound
like?

"Chicken hawk" is a local name for any variety of hawk that might prey on
chickens in a farm yard. It probably has been most often applied to
red-tailed hawks because those are the most common hawks around farms in
much of the United States, but there really is no single species of bird
that is correctly called by this name.
J. Elliott
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Chicken hawk is an old term.  It was usually associated with farmers who 
identified any hawk (or eagle, ospreys, vultures and sometimes crows)as a potential 
predators to farm animals.  They would shoot at any of these indiscriminately.
Modern farmers are much more educated and recognize the differences.  They are 
probably one of the most support for conservation, and especially wildlife.
Steve Sample
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