Hawks are known the world over for their carnivorous conquests of defenseless little animals like chicks, puppies, kittens, and animal eggs. These birds are rightfully known as birds of prey because of this. Broadly speaking, hawks, vultures, some owls, and eagles are also known as raptors.

Among the hawk’s many adaptations is its wide wingspan, which allows it to soar high in to the air, or easily swoop down from a nearby tree to catch its prey.

It is also used during mating season, where a female would flash her wings at the male, calling him the “have fun”.

Humans who have encroached onto their habitat, and have started spraying chemicals that are mainly intended for their crops have terrorized hawks, especially the Swainson’s hawk.

Since hawks are known to repeatedly come back to their places of birth/breeding, they often leave to avoid the chemicals and therefore come back hungry, waiting to feed from their original nests.

Along with their strong wings, their hollow bones allow them to fly to increasingly higher altitudes without being weighted down.

Another key adaptation of hawks is their very strong talons, or nails. These serve many purposes. They can easily grip branches of trees, and mountainsides, especially when they are watching a prey, they can also kill a prey by merely digging their talons into them.

These talons also allow them to strike their prey, often delivering a death blow, like the red-tailed hawks do

Hawks also have hooked beaks that allow them to dig in and rip the flesh off the bones of their prey, like rats, fish, and other birds.

Another vital adaptation that allows these birds to thrive is their amazingly sharp eyesight. Hawks are said to be able to spot a mouse in a field below, when they are flying overhead.

The placement of the hawk’s eyes is another major adaptation. Its eyes are placed on top of its head, allowing him to judge the distance, and focus on his prey with relative ease. It gives him binocular vision (like in humans), which is the ability to see the same object with both eyes.