🦅 Red-tailed hawk vs Secretarybird 🦅
The secretarybird is about twice as tall as the red-tailed hawk. The secretarybird weighs about 3 times as much as the red-tailed hawk.
Getting the animals ready…
| Row | 🦅 Red-tailed hawk | 🦅 Secretarybird |
|---|---|---|
| Size The secretarybird is about twice as tall as the red-tailed hawk. | 19 to 26 in48 to 65 cm1 | 35 in to 3.9 ft90 cm to 1.2 m2 |
| Top speed Neither has a checked number yet. | no checked number yet | no checked number yet |
| Weight The secretarybird weighs about 3 times as much as the red-tailed hawk. | 1.8 to 2.7 lb800 g to 1.2 kg1 | 5.1 to 9.4 lb2.3 to 4.3 kg2 |
| Lives The red-tailed hawk lives a bit longer than the secretarybird. | 22 years22 years1 | 19 years19 years2 |
| Eats Both eat meat. | mostly small rodents, and sometimes rabbits, reptiles and other birds | insects and small mammals, and sometimes birds, eggs, frogs, lizards and snakes |
| Lives in They live in different kinds of places, so they would hardly ever meet. | open country with high perches, such as grassland, farm fields, parks and woodland edges, across North and Central America | open savanna, grassland and scrub across Africa south of the Sahara |
Which one? Red-tailed hawk or secretarybird
🏁 Who would win the race?
We don't have a checked top speed for the red-tailed hawk or the secretarybird 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 Red-tailed hawk vs Secretarybird
- The red-tailed hawk: A common hawk that watches for small animals from high perches.
- The secretarybird: A tall African bird of prey that walks a long way each day.
- They are the same kind of animal: both are birds.
- The secretarybird is about twice as tall as the red-tailed hawk: 2 against 1.
- The secretarybird weighs about 3 times as much as the red-tailed hawk. That is 1 for the red-tailed hawk and 2 for the secretarybird.
- The red-tailed hawk lives a bit longer than the secretarybird. Usual lifespans: 1 for the red-tailed hawk and 2 for the secretarybird.
- Both eat meat. The red-tailed hawk eats mostly small rodents, and sometimes rabbits, reptiles and other birds; the secretarybird eats insects and small mammals, and sometimes birds, eggs, frogs, lizards and snakes.
- 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. The secretarybird lives in open savanna, grassland and scrub across Africa south of the Sahara. They live in different kinds of places, so they would hardly ever meet.
- The red-tailed hawk: doing fine (Least Concern on the IUCN Red List). 3
- The secretarybird: in danger (Endangered on the IUCN Red List). 4
Wow facts
🦅 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.
🦅 Secretarybird
- A secretarybird walks a long way on foot each day.
- It has very long legs for a bird of prey.
- It can fly well, too.
Questions kids ask about Red-tailed hawk and Secretarybird
Which is bigger, red-tailed hawk or secretarybird?
The secretarybird is about twice as tall as the red-tailed hawk: 2 against 1.
Which is heavier, red-tailed hawk or secretarybird?
The secretarybird weighs about 3 times as much as the red-tailed hawk. That is 1 for the red-tailed hawk and 2 for the secretarybird.
Which lives longer, red-tailed hawk or secretarybird?
The red-tailed hawk lives a bit longer than the secretarybird. Usual lifespans: 1 for the red-tailed hawk and 2 for the secretarybird.
What do red-tailed hawk and secretarybird eat?
Both eat meat. The red-tailed hawk eats mostly small rodents, and sometimes rabbits, reptiles and other birds; the secretarybird eats insects and small mammals, and sometimes birds, eggs, frogs, lizards and snakes.
Where do red-tailed hawk and secretarybird live?
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. The secretarybird lives in open savanna, grassland and scrub across Africa south of the Sahara. They live in different kinds of places, so they would hardly ever meet.
Who would win, red-tailed hawk or secretarybird?
We never show fights, because a fight is not a fair way to compare animals. They live in different kinds of places, so they would hardly ever meet. 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/red-tailed-hawk-vs-secretarybird
Where these numbers come from
- University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, Animal Diversity Web: Buteo jamaicensis (red-tailed hawk), checked 10 November 2026.
- University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, Animal Diversity Web: Sagittarius serpentarius (secretarybird), checked 10 November 2026.
- Wikidata, from the IUCN Red List, checked 10 November 2026.
- Wikidata, from the IUCN Red List, checked 10 November 2026.