Although 16 subspecies have been described, many of these groups require important work to revise their validity as well as refine our understanding of their respective distributions.
Many Red-tailed Hawk subspecies have been described from limited samples and only by morphometrics. Furthermore, many distributional limits and contact zones are poorly understood. We aim to focus on these areas to better understand these descriptions and their validity, their respective distributions, and their defining characteristics.
Currently, our main areas of focus are:
Phylogenomics to better understand the evolutionary history of this diverse species, and the relationships between the geographic types.
Population Genomics to assess population structure and connectivity.
The distribution and regularity of kriderii, as an attempt to understand this enigmatic plumage type.
Distribution of abieticola, and the presence of polymorphism in the central and eastern Boreal.
Subspecies designations and distributions in Mexico and Central America.
Status of alascensis, and subspecies distributions in British Columbia and Alaska.
Red-tailed Hawk Project 