🦅 Bald eagle vs Red-tailed hawk 🦅
The bald eagle is about one and a half times as long as the red-tailed hawk. The bald eagle weighs about 5 times as much as the red-tailed hawk.
Getting the animals ready…
| Row | 🦅 Bald eagle | 🦅 Red-tailed hawk |
|---|---|---|
| Size The bald eagle is about one and a half times as long as the red-tailed hawk. | 28 in to 3.2 ft71 to 97 cm1 | 19 to 26 in48 to 65 cm2 |
| Top speed We don't have a checked number for the red-tailed hawk yet. | 35 to 40 mph56 to 64 km/h3 | no checked number yet |
| Weight The bald eagle weighs about 5 times as much as the red-tailed hawk. | 7 to 14 lb3.2 to 6.4 kg4 | 1.8 to 2.7 lb800 g to 1.2 kg2 |
| Lives They are about the same. | 20 years20 years1 | 22 years22 years2 |
| Eats The bald eagle eats fish; the red-tailed hawk eats meat. | mostly fish, plus ducks and dead animals | mostly small rodents, and sometimes rabbits, reptiles and other birds |
| Lives in They can live in the same kind of place. | near lakes, rivers and coasts across North America | open country with high perches, such as grassland, farm fields, parks and woodland edges, across North and Central America |
Which one? Bald eagle or red-tailed hawk
🏁 Who would win the race?
We don't have a checked top speed for the red-tailed hawk yet, so there is no race.
We only race. Real animals mostly avoid each other. A race is the only fair contest: who reaches the tree first, by top speed. Our face-off books compare real numbers, and nobody gets hurt.
10 things to know about Bald eagle vs Red-tailed hawk
- The bald eagle: A big eagle with a white head that catches fish from rivers.
- The red-tailed hawk: A common hawk that watches for small animals from high perches.
- They are the same kind of animal: both are birds.
- The bald eagle is about one and a half times as long as the red-tailed hawk: 1 against 2.
- The bald eagle weighs about 5 times as much as the red-tailed hawk. That is 4 for the bald eagle and 2 for the red-tailed hawk.
- They are about the same. Usual lifespans: 1 for the bald eagle and 2 for the red-tailed hawk.
- The bald eagle eats mostly fish, plus ducks and dead animals. The red-tailed hawk eats mostly small rodents, and sometimes rabbits, reptiles and other birds.
- The bald eagle lives in near lakes, rivers and coasts across North America. The red-tailed hawk lives in open country with high perches, such as grassland, farm fields, parks and woodland edges, across North and Central America. They can live in the same kind of place.
- The bald eagle: doing fine (Least Concern on the IUCN Red List). 5
- The red-tailed hawk: doing fine (Least Concern on the IUCN Red List). 6
Wow facts
🦅 Bald eagle
- "Bald" is an old word for white-headed.
- A pair adds to the same nest year after year.
- Young bald eagles are brown and get their white head later.
🦅 Red-tailed hawk
- A red-tailed hawk watches for food from a high perch.
- Most of its food is small rodents.
- It lives in parks and farm fields as well as grassland.
Questions kids ask about Bald eagle and Red-tailed hawk
Which is bigger, bald eagle or red-tailed hawk?
The bald eagle is about one and a half times as long as the red-tailed hawk: 1 against 2.
Which is heavier, bald eagle or red-tailed hawk?
The bald eagle weighs about 5 times as much as the red-tailed hawk. That is 4 for the bald eagle and 2 for the red-tailed hawk.
Which lives longer, bald eagle or red-tailed hawk?
They are about the same. Usual lifespans: 1 for the bald eagle and 2 for the red-tailed hawk.
What do bald eagle and red-tailed hawk eat?
The bald eagle eats mostly fish, plus ducks and dead animals. The red-tailed hawk eats mostly small rodents, and sometimes rabbits, reptiles and other birds.
Where do bald eagle and red-tailed hawk live?
The bald eagle lives in near lakes, rivers and coasts across North America. The red-tailed hawk lives in open country with high perches, such as grassland, farm fields, parks and woodland edges, across North and Central America. They can live in the same kind of place.
Do bald eagles eat red-tailed hawks?
The bald eagle eats mostly fish, plus ducks and dead animals. Red-tailed hawks are not in that list, which comes from its page.
Do red-tailed hawks eat bald eagles?
The red-tailed hawk eats mostly small rodents, and sometimes rabbits, reptiles and other birds. Bald eagles are not in that list, which comes from its page. And the bald eagle is about one and a half times as long as the red-tailed hawk.
Who would win, bald eagle or red-tailed hawk?
We never show fights, because a fight is not a fair way to compare animals. They can share the same kind of place, and real animals mostly keep out of each other's way. What we can compare is how big, how heavy, how fast, how long they live and what they eat, as above.
📤 Share this pair
The link carries only the two animals’ names: peabody.kids/animals/compare/bald-eagle-vs-red-tailed-hawk
Where these numbers come from
- National Park Service (North American bald eagle), checked 30 October 2026.
- University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, Animal Diversity Web: Buteo jamaicensis (red-tailed hawk), checked 10 November 2026.
- National Park Service, Upper Delaware, checked 30 October 2026.
- National Park Service, Kenai Fjords, checked 30 October 2026.
- Wikidata, from the IUCN Red List, checked 30 October 2026.
- Wikidata, from the IUCN Red List, checked 10 November 2026.