Red-shouldered Hawk

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Red-shouldered Hawk

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Falconiformes
Family:	Accipitridae
Genus:	Buteo
Species:	B. lineatus

Binomial name

Buteo lineatus
(Gmelin, 1788)

The Red-shouldered Hawk, Buteo lineatus, is a medium-sized hawk.

Adults have a brownish head, a reddish breast,long tail and a pale belly with reddish bars. They have a long dark tail with narrow white bars. The red "shoulder" is visible when the bird is perched. Their upperparts are dark with pale spots; they have long yellow legs. Western birds may appear more red; Florida birds are generally paler.

Their breeding habitat is deciduous and mixed wooded areas near water in eastern North America and along the coast of California and northern Mexico. They build a stick nest in a major fork of a large tree.

These birds are permanent residents throughout most of their range; northern birds migrate to more southern parts of their range.

These birds wait on a perch in a forested area and swoop down on prey, also sometimes flying low through clearings to surprise prey. They mainly eat small mammals, amphibians, reptiles, small birds and large insects.

They are quite vocal, especially during spring courtship. Their cry is a loud, screaming "kee yar" dropping in pitch, typically uttered 2-4 times.

Being a forest bird, its nest is built up high in a tree near moving water. It then returns to the same nest each season. The 2-5 whitish eggs are incubated for 28 days by both parents with the chicks remaining in the nest for 5-6 weeks. It hunts for small birds and mammals, reptiles, frogs, and crayfish.

[edit] References

BirdLife International (2004). Buteo lineatus. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 10 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern