Red-shouldered Hawk – McCuration

RED-SHOULDERED HAWK GALLERY
(Buteo lineatus)

eBird offers this description of the Red-Shouldered Hawk: Smaller than Red-tailed Hawk. Adults are beautiful with rich orange barring below and bold black-and-white checkerboard patterning on wings. Often in forested areas, where they hunt from perches. Perches on wires more frequently than Red-tailed Hawk. In flight, wings seem narrow and pushed forward compared to Red-tailed or Broad-winged Hawk; also note relatively long tail. Population in California is more richly colored (darker orange) than paler Eastern birds; while Florida birds are paler with gray head and back. All About Birds offers this additional descriptive information about the Red-shouldered Hawk: Whether wheeling over a swamp forest or whistling plaintively from a riverine park, a Red-shouldered Hawk is typically a sign of tall woods and water. It’s one of our most distinctively marked common hawks, with barred reddish-peachy underparts and a strongly banded tail. In flight, translucent crescents near the wingtips help to identify the species at a distance. These forest hawks hunt prey ranging from mice to frogs and snakes.

In 2013 I first noticed a Red-shoulder Hawk nest high up in a pecan tree on my neighbor’s property to the south. Over the course of the next several years, they kept coming back to the nest and I enjoyed watching the nest and the little ones it produced. For the last several years, there has been no nest that I can find. I still occasionally see Red-shouldered Hawks hunting on my property and around the neighborhood, but I have yet to locate their current nest.

On my driveway, 876 Lakeview Trail, McQueeney, Texas. June 3, 2013.

DSC_0016A — June 1, 2013, Lake McQueeney, Texas.

DSCN2906Cropped — Red-shouldered Hawk hanging out by my boathouse, May 7, 2020.

DSCN2921 — Red-shouldered Hawk in one of the Pecan Trees in my front yard, May 7, 2020.

DSCN3807Cropped — I was delighted to see this Red-shouldered Hawk at Warbler Woods, near the Old Picnic Grounds, May 18, 2020.

DSCN5976 — I spotted this beauty as I returned from my morning walk on October 10, 2020. He let me watch about 5 minutes as he went from tree to basketball goal, to ground, to tree!

DSCN6154 — Red-shouldered Hawk, FM 725 at County Line Road, October 12, 2020.

I have realized that I have many nice photographs of Red-shouldered Hawks that I would like to share. Due to space concerns, I am putting them in media gallery blocks. Here they are…I hope you enjoy!

In the Spring of 2024 I noticed Red-shouldered Hawk activity on and near my property at Lake McQueeney. I spent some time and focused on getting shots of the hawks, especially while they were in flight. Here are a few of my results…

LAKE MCQUEENEY WAS DRAINED IN MARCH OF 2023 SO REPAIRS COULD BE MADE ON OUR DAM. AS A RESULT, A WHOLE NEW HABITAT WAS CREATED IN FRONT OF MY HOUSE. HERE IS A PICTURE OF A RED-SHOULDERED HAWK PERCHED ON A STUMP HUNTING. MARCH 27, 2024.

THE HAWKS OFTEN PERCH IN MY PECAN TREES, WATCHING MY BACKYARD FEEDERS AND AN EASY MEAL. MARCH 30, 2024.

HEADED DOWN FROM A PERCH. MARCH 30, 2024.

HUNTING IN THE MOSTLY DRY LAKE BED. MARCH 30, 2024.

THE BALD CYPRESS TREE OUT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE LAKE APPEARS TO HAVE DIED. THE HAWKS OFTEN PERCH OUT THERE HUNTING THE DRY LAKE BED AND AREAS OF SHALLOW STANDING WATER. ONE OF THE HAWKS LEAVING THE BALD CYPRESS ON APRIL 4, 2024.

ANOTHER SHOT OF A RED-SHOULDERED HAWK ON THE AFTERNOON OF APRIL 4, 2024.

Some “Cool Facts” about Red-Shouldered Hawks From All About Birds…

Although the American Crow often mobs the Red-shouldered Hawk, sometimes the relationship is not so one-sided. They may chase each other and try to steal food from each other. They may also both attack a Great Horned Owl and join forces to chase the owl out of the hawk’s territory.
The Great Horned Owl often takes nestling Red-shouldered Hawks, but the hawk occasionally turns the tables. While a Red-shouldered Hawk was observed chasing a Great Horned Owl, its mate took a young owl out of its nest and ate it.
Red-shouldered Hawks return to the same nesting territory year after year. One Red-shouldered Hawk occupied a territory in southern California for 16 consecutive years.
By the time they are five days old, nestling Red-shouldered Hawks can shoot their feces over the edge of their nest. Bird poop on the ground is a sign of an active nest.
The Red-shouldered Hawk is divided into five subspecies. The four eastern forms contact each other, but the West Coast form is separated from the eastern forms by 1600 km (1000 mi). The northern form is the largest. The form in very southern Florida is the palest, having a gray head and very faint barring on the chest.
The oldest-known Red-shouldered hawk was a female, and at least 25 years, 10 months old when she was recaptured and rereleased during banding operations in California in 2000. She had been banded in the same state in 1974.