How High Do Hawks Fly?

Though a Hawk’s plumage is far sleeker than an average bird of prey however, like other raptors, hawks boast the same large wingspans with broad feathers arranged to provide maximum lift.

So, they can ride rising air updrafts and reach enormous heights of thousands of feet.

And yet,

Most Hawks have been reported to soar only within a few hundred feet from the ground.

Now, that may strike rather strange as birds with relative wingspans and body proportions have been recorded at least three thousand feet from the ground or above.

So, let’s start over with a similar question:

At What Altitude Do Hawks Fly?

Typically, at 100-300 feet from the ground.

Now, hawks are rather moderate-sized birds weighing about 1.5-2.5 kgs and growing as tall as 23-27 inches with a wingspan typically exceeding 1.5-meter width.

Their broad feathers are organized in a characteristic V-shape, giving them the ability to wield maximum air.

In fact,

Additionally, their streamlined bodies minimize air resistance.

Their eyes provide them with better vision even from long distances.

And so, it’s appropriate to assume that:

Hawks have nearly all the essential elements for flying high in the sky. 

And yet, a hawk almost always prefers to stay near the ground.

So, a more appropriate question would be asking:

Why Do Hawks Prefer To Fly Near The Ground?

Cause it’s more convenient, efficient, and logical that way.

You must understand that hawks stand at the top of food chains but not entirely because of their strong gripping talons and piercing beaks.

Instead, hawks are gifted with something humans nowadays struggle very much to even use

The intelligence to wisely judge and reason. 

In simple words, a hawk doesn’t simply follow whims but hunts with reason and precision.

Obviously, it would make more sense if we could just ask Mr. and Mrs. Hawk for a candid interview on why they fly rather low.

But they are not ‘Civilized’ enough to speak ‘Human’.

So, the best we could ask is an opinion from hawk ornithologists who suggest the following reasons behind their low-altitude flights:

1. Availability Of Prey

A hawk is a carnivorous raptor that prefers eating fresh kills.

But most prey animals either scuttle on the ground or stay near trees to ensure they can hide whenever a threat approaches them.  

Even a flying prey like songbirds stick around the trees to eat and survive better.

So, it’s rather pointless for a hawk to soar high when its food is easily available on the ground.

2. Hunting Style

Normally, hawks dive directly from above at 90 degrees, grab their victim, squeeze it to death, and take it somewhere else to devour. 

Furthermore, a hawk’s eyes are 8 times stronger than a human eye.

So, a hawk can see a mouse clearly from a 2-miles distance.

Therefore,

Soaring high may provide a better vantage point to a hawk.

However, flying at higher altitudes also means a long jump towards the prey which may even alert the supposed victim.

Besides, hawks lack parabolic hearing like owls, or smelling ability like vultures to help them better locate prey.

So,

Flying high can make hunting tiring as well as difficult for a hawk.

3. Energy Conservation

Hawks don’t flutter much and use thermals to soar with less energy.

However, even soaring requires energy and a constant struggle to stay in circles.

(See my article “Why Do Hawks Circle?” if thermals or hawk soaring is a new concept to you). 

Like other wild animals, Hawks also value their energy.

In fact,

Hawks can sit still at one place for more than 6 hours and wait for a prey to come near them. 

Therefore, for hawks, soaring too high is only purposeless energy-draining activity.

4. Issues With Increasing Altitude

It appears that hawks may have more reasons to stick to the ground.

This comes in the form of issues associated with increasing altitudes.

These include:

Issue	Reason	Remarks
Thermoregulation	As the air pressure lowers, the temperature falls. Therefore, higher altitudes may be too cold for flying.	Only birds with certain adaptations can survive cold.  For instance, vultures and swans can crane their long necks to ensure cold does not strike their brains. But hawks cannot.
Water Retention	Cloud formation concentrates all the moisture, leaving the rest of the air rather dry.  And so, breathing may cause dehydration.	Hawks don’t have any particular adaptations for surviving dehydration.
Breathing Issues	Low air pressure requires efficient breathing systems.	Hawks have adequate air pockets and efficient hemoglobin. But unlike geese, they cannot hyperventilate and survive alkaline blood pressure.
Metabolic Rates	Soaring at low pressure requires more vigorous monitoring and so, more energy.	Hawks can sleep with one eye, but they cannot lower their metabolic rates to 50% as vultures do.

Considering all these reasons, you may even wonder if a hawk can even reach a height of 1000-feet.

Or say,

Do Hawks Fly High In The Sky?

They do but only when they must.

You see, even the birds recorded to fly above 30,000 feet do not prefer to stay at higher altitudes all the time.

In fact, they come down to earth whenever they can.

Why?

Well, because just like hawks, all birds that fly high must compromise on energy costs, thermoregulation issues, metabolic rates and even breathing adaptations.

Normally, birds fly at great heights when:

1. They are traveling through mountain ranges with narrow air passages.
2. They must use a tailwind that originates at upper altitudes.
3. They fear predation by flying low like mallards and bar-headed geese.
4. They must pick heights because there are only a limited number of thermals in that region and gliding from a height will give them pace e.g. albatrosses crossing oceans.
5. They need to find food as vultures do.

Since hawks don’t need to pick heights for foraging and they don’t have many predators, they mostly hit high altitudes only during migration.

In fact,

Migrating hawks have been reported to fly beyond 13,000 feet from the ground. 

However, a hawk’s flying height also varies with its type.

Now, there are about 270 species of hawks, but they are divided into two main types

1. Accipiter Hawks
2. Buteo Hawks 

Though both these hawks share families, they have stark differences in their wingspans.

Typically, Accipiter hawks have slimmer plumage compared to Buteos that have broad wings and even tails

The two types of hawks are so diverse that they have different habits, habitat preferences, as well as flight speeds and heights. (See figure 2)

Figure 2: Accentuating the Flight as well as Other differences between Accipiter Hawks and Buteo Hawks.

At this point, you may be wondering:

What Bird Flies The Highest In The Sky?

Ruppel’s Griffon Vulture has been reported as the highest-flying bird, soaring beyond 37,000 feet from the ground.

Now, here is a list of the top 5 highest-flying birds:

Bird	Scientific Name	Flight Height	Rank by Flight Height
Ruppell’s Griffon Vulture	Gyps rueppellii	37,000 feet	1st
Common Crane	Grus grus	33,000 feet	2nd
Bar-headed Goose	Answer indicus	29,000 feet	3rd
Whooper Swan	Cygnus cygnus	27,000 feet	4th
Alpine Chough	Pytrrhocorax graculus	26,500 feet	5th

While I have included only top 5 birds with respect to their flight heights, however, Hawks are not even considered until one lists the top 20 birds that fly high in the sky. 

It’s because hawks were never meant to soar too high, instead, they were built for speed. 

Now, you may be wondering:

How Fast Can a Hawk Fly?

Typically, around 100-150 km/hour with top guns exceeding 280km/hour.

You see, hawks have far sleeker feathers than an average raptor.

Furthermore, their heads are rather proportionate to their bodies compared to owls or eagles with exceptionally large heads.

While their streamlined bodies help them resist air however, hawks can further adjust their bodies in a tear-drop shape to minimize turbulence and reach enormous speeds.

And so,

A hawk flying at 130km/hour can fly at short bursts of 180kim/hour.

That said, Buteos are generally faster than Accipiter hawks, but the latter can be more precise.

It’s because Accipiter Hawks have longer tails that work essentially as rudders.

Another thing is hawk speeds also vary with age and gender. 

As expected, neither juveniles nor hawks older than 15 years are much agile.

However, males are about one-third the size of a female.

This allows them to move much more freely. 

Male Hawks are generally faster than their female counterparts.

In fact, agility is a preferred trait for mates and courtship requires an elaborate display of aerial maneuvers.

But, it may have been selected because a lazy hawk will starve and wither sooner than an active one.

Wrapping Up

Though Hawks can fly thousands of feet from the ground, they prefer to stay within 100-300 feet from the ground.

It’s because soaring at high altitudes costs more energy, requires active thermoregulation and breathing adaptations. 

While hawks are not the highest flying birds, they are certainly among the fastest on the planet.