Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis)
This Red-tailed Hawk was found on the side of I-25 near Fort Collins in 1999. She had sustained a fractured right clavicle & coracoid (shoulder area) and head trauma, which impaired the vision in her left eye. Because of this impaired vision, she could not be released.
She was an adult when admitted, so we have no knowledge of how old she is.
The Red-tailed hawk is often considered the diurnal (daytime) equivalent of the great horned owl because both species occupy the same niche at different times of the day. This relationship between predator that hunts by night and predator that hunts by day is referred to as the “niche shift”.