How to Identify aRed-shouldered Hawk
Buteo lineatus · 16.9–24 in (43–61 cm)
Male vs. female
Male
Rusty-orange barred underparts, checkered black-and-white wings, rufous shoulder patch, narrow white tail bands. Sexes look alike.
Female
Identical in pattern to the male but slightly larger.
Male photo: Andy Morffew from Itchen Abbas, Hampshire, UK / Wikimedia, CC BY 2.0 · Second photo: Paul Danese / Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 2.0
Field marks
- Finely rust-barred underparts rather than a dark belly band
- Bold narrow white bands across a black tail
- Translucent pale crescents near the wingtips, visible from below
- Rufous shoulder patch when perched
Similar species
What it sounds like
A loud, repeated, downslurred "kee-yah, kee-yah", frequently imitated by Blue Jays.
Behaviour that gives it away
Hunts by watching from a mid-level perch inside the woods and dropping onto prey, rather than soaring in the open like a Red-tailed Hawk.
Habitat & range
Wet deciduous woodland, wooded swamps and riverside forest in the East, and oak woodland in California.
When you'll see it
Present all year in eastern, southeastern and western North America.
What it eats
Small mammals, frogs, snakes, crayfish and large insects.
Did you know?
Blue Jays imitate its scream so accurately that a "hawk" heard in the woods is very often a jay.
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