Hawk

 are Birds found in Red Dead Redemption.

Characteristics
Hawks are usually found flying around open areas. And they usually make a loud sqwack when they are in the air. While difficult to hit, their feathers are worth 6 dollars each, making these animals an excellent way of getting money since you get 1-4 feathers each kill.

Location
A good place to earn some money early in the game, is the open field west of Warthington Ranch, close to MacFarlane's Ranch, during the day time. The field is full hawks to begin with, but there's usually also a fellow hunter with a bird shooting challenge somewhere.

Strategy
If you shoot the hawks without starting the challenge, for a time the game will make sure that there is always a sufficient amount of hawks in the air for the challenge to be done. If you've exhausted that, start the challenge, and some more should appear.

Like all birds/animals/people, a dead   becomes an x on the minimap when John kills them (if he is close enough to them). Birds are particularly hard to find once they are on the ground amongst the foliage. After shooting them down, run in their direction and look for an x on the minimap.

Be aware, though, that you can only carry 99 hawk feathers at a time.

Trophies/Achievements
The player must kill a hawk to contribute to the successful completion of the following trophy/achievement:
 * Unnatural Selection: Kill one of every animal species in the game in any game mode.