New Jersey is home to at least nine hawk species, plus several closely related raptors like falcons and eagles that often get grouped under the “hawk” umbrella. The state’s position along the Atlantic coast makes it one of the premier hawk-watching locations in North America, with tens of thousands of raptors funneling through each autumn. Some species live in New Jersey year-round, others pass through only during migration, and a few show up strictly as winter visitors.
Red-Tailed Hawk
The red-tailed hawk is the most visible hawk in New Jersey and the one you’re most likely to spot on any given day. It lives in the state year-round and favors open country: farm fields, highway medians, and forest edges. You’ll often see one perched on a telephone pole or a lone tree scanning the ground for rodents.
Adults are rich brown above and pale below, with a streaked belly band and the signature cinnamon-red tail that gives them their name. Juveniles lack the red tail entirely, instead showing brown-and-white banding. With a wingspan stretching 45 to 52 inches, red-tailed hawks are large and easy to identify even from a moving car. They nest across all 21 counties, from the farmland of Salem County to suburban Bergen County parks.
Sharp-Shinned Hawk and Cooper’s Hawk
These two forest hawks are the ones most likely to appear in your backyard, usually drawn by songbirds at a feeder. Both are accipiters, built for speed through dense woods with short, rounded wings and long tails. Telling them apart is one of the classic challenges in birding.
The sharp-shinned hawk is smaller, roughly the size of a blue jay, with a tail that looks square-tipped when the feathers are held straight. The outer tail feathers are typically the longest. Cooper’s hawks are noticeably bigger, closer to crow-sized, with a rounded tail tip where the middle feathers extend farthest. Cooper’s hawks breed throughout New Jersey and stay year-round in many areas. Sharp-shinned hawks breed mainly in northern New Jersey’s forests but become abundant statewide during fall migration, when thousands stream through Cape May. On a single peak day at Cape May Point, observers have counted 11,000 sharp-shins alongside other species.
Broad-Winged Hawk
Broad-winged hawks are New Jersey’s most dramatic migrants. They breed in the state’s forested areas during summer, then head to Central and South America each fall. The spectacle happens in September, when they form massive spiraling groups called kettles, riding thermals southward. At Cape May Point, a single autumn day once produced a count of 9,400 broad-winged hawks as part of a 21,800-raptor day.
They’re compact, stocky buteos, smaller than red-tailed hawks, with broad black-and-white bands on the tail. If you want to see them in New Jersey, September is the month. Outside that narrow migration window, they’re quiet and inconspicuous in the forest canopy, easily overlooked.
Red-Shouldered Hawk
The red-shouldered hawk is a woodland species that prefers wet, mature forests near streams and swamps. It breeds in New Jersey but in limited numbers, and the state lists it as threatened during the breeding season and special concern during the nonbreeding season. You’re most likely to encounter one in the extensive forests of the Pine Barrens or along wooded river corridors in the southern half of the state.
These hawks are strikingly marked, with reddish barring across the chest and bold black-and-white bands on the wings and tail. Their call, a loud repeated “kee-ah,” often gives them away before you see them. They occupy a similar habitat niche to Cooper’s hawks but prefer wetter, less fragmented forest.
Northern Harrier
Often called the marsh hawk, the northern harrier is unmistakable once you know what to look for. It flies low over open marshes with its wings held in a shallow V shape, tilting side to side as it hunts by sound and sight. The white rump patch, visible from a considerable distance, is the single best field mark on any harrier regardless of age or sex.
New Jersey’s coastal marshes, particularly along the Delaware Bay shore, are prime harrier habitat. During the 1980s the state’s breeding population was estimated at just 40 to 50 pairs, with the majority concentrated in the Delaware Bay estuary. Harriers have a long migration season at Cape May, with birds passing through from August all the way into December.
Northern Goshawk
The northern goshawk is the rarest accipiter in New Jersey and is listed as an endangered species in the state. It’s a large, powerful forest hawk, bigger and bulkier than a Cooper’s hawk, with a fierce red eye in adults and a pale gray breast. Goshawks breed in a handful of locations in northern New Jersey’s extensive hardwood and mixed forests, but sightings are uncommon. A few also pass through during the October and November migration window. If you see a very large, aggressive accipiter deep in mature forest, a goshawk is worth considering, but confirm carefully since they’re easily confused with large female Cooper’s hawks.
Rough-Legged Hawk
Rough-legged hawks are strictly winter visitors. They breed on Arctic tundra and travel south to New Jersey between late October and March. Major concentrations gather along the southern New Jersey coast, where open salt marshes mimic the treeless habitat they prefer. The warmer coastal climate and lack of persistent snow cover make these areas especially attractive compared to the state’s inland highlands, where sightings are much rarer.
They’ve also been recorded wintering in the Hackensack Meadowlands, showing a surprising tolerance for industrial landscapes and human disturbance as long as open ground is available. Rough-legged hawk numbers fluctuate significantly from year to year, likely tracking prey cycles on their Arctic breeding grounds. Christmas Bird Count data from New Jersey show the percentage of stations recording them ranging from just 27% in low years to 89% in peak years.
Other Raptors Often Called Hawks
Several other raptors regularly seen in New Jersey get lumped in with hawks even though they belong to different families. The American kestrel (once called the sparrow hawk) is a small, colorful falcon that hunts from wires and fence posts in open fields. Kestrels migrate through New Jersey from mid-September onward and some winter in the state, though their overall numbers have declined in recent decades.
The merlin (formerly the pigeon hawk) is a fast, aggressive falcon seen during fall migration, often chasing shorebirds along the coast. Peregrine falcons also migrate through in tightly concentrated numbers. About 90% of any season’s peregrines at Cape May pass between September 26 and October 12. A small number of peregrines now nest on bridges and buildings in urban New Jersey year-round.
Ospreys, sometimes called fish hawks, nest abundantly along the Jersey Shore and Delaware Bay. Pairs begin courtship and nest building in early April, lay eggs by mid-April to early May, and young birds leave the nest at seven to eight weeks of age, typically by mid to late July. Their peak southward migration runs from mid-September through mid-October.
Best Places and Times to See Hawks
Cape May Point is the premier hawk-watching site in New Jersey and one of the best in the world. Geography funnels migrating raptors to the tip of the peninsula each autumn, creating extraordinary concentrations. Accipiters and falcons peak from mid-September through mid-October. Buteos like red-tailed and red-shouldered hawks peak from mid-October onward. Golden eagles, a rare but regular migrant, are most common in the last week of October. Northern goshawks, rough-legged hawks, and vultures round out the season in October and November.
Outside of Cape May, the Montclair Hawk Lookout in northern New Jersey offers excellent September broad-wing flights. For year-round hawk watching, any open farmland with scattered trees will produce red-tailed hawks, and wooded suburban neighborhoods with bird feeders reliably attract Cooper’s hawks. Coastal marshes from the Meadowlands south to Cape May are the best bet for harriers, and the southern coast is where you’ll find rough-legged hawks in winter.