General
Red-shouldered Hawk: Large hawk with brown upperparts and head. Underparts are white with rust-red barring. Wings are finely barred above with red-brown shoulders and pale below with red-brown wash and dark tips. Tail is dark with thick white bands. Sexes are similar. Juvenile has dark-streaked white underparts.
Range and Habitat
Red-shouldered Hawk: Resident in the eastern woodlands and west of the Rocky Mountains; also in New England and the Great Lakes region during the summer.
Breeding and Nesting
Red-shouldered Hawk: Two to six brown marked, white to blue eggs are laid in a large stick nest lined with finer materials and built in a tree. Eggs are incubated for 28 days by both sexes.
Foraging and Feeding
Red-shouldered Hawk: Diet of consists of small mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and large insects. Hunts while perched or soaring.
Vocalization
Red-shouldered Hawk: Screams a repeated "kee-yer" during courtship, audible for miles. Also gives a quick series of slurred-together whistles.
Similar Species
Red-shouldered Hawk: Broad-winged Hawk lacks red shoulders, has black-and-white bands on tail of even width, and a crisp black border on underwings.