Animals that are precocial have young that are fairly mature and mobile when they are born/hatched. In the world of birds, those that nest on the ground tend to be precocial, with the young being able to run, hide, and in many cases swim, very quickly.

For mammals, many herd animals, such as cows, horses, and sheep are precocial. Since the herd keeps moving, the young must be able to move with the herd within hours of being born.

Animals that are altricial have young that are fairly helpless when born/hatched. Some examples of altricial mammals include cats, dogs, mice, and humans.

Altricial birds usually nest in trees or other inaccessible places where their young will be safe from predators. The young stay in the nest much longer than those of precocial birds.

The bird in the photo is a Red Shouldered Hawk. They are altricial, although some sources list them as semi-altricial, since the young hawks develop quickly after hatching.