Scientific Name:   Buteo lineatus

Length:   16.9-24.0 in (43-61 cm)

Weight:   17.1-27.3 oz (486-774 g)

Wingspan:   37.0-43.7 in (94-111 cm)

Nest:   The nest is usually in a shedding tree, sometimes in needle-shaped trees, located in a fork of main trunk or at the base of branches against a trunk, usually 35-65' above ground. It is platform of sticks and other material, lined with bark, moss, and sprigs of green vegetation, and may be reused for more than one season.

Eggs:   Usually 3-4, sometimes 2. Pale bluish-white, blotched with brown and lavender. Incubation is mostly by the female, roughly in 33 days. The male brings food to female at the nest, and may take a turn sitting on eggs while female eats.

Feeding Behavior:   Red-shouldered hawks search for prey while perched on a treetop or soaring over woodlands. When they sight prey, they kill it by dropping directly onto it from the air. They may cache food near their nest for later consumption. When in clearings, they sometimes fly high and then drop to surprise prey. Red-shouldered hawks, like most raptors, have very good vision and reasonably good sense of hearing, with talons capable of killing animals as big as their own size.

Young:   The female remains with young most of time for first 1-3 weeks after they hatch; the male brings food, and the female feeds it to nestlings. Young leave the nest at about 5-7 weeks after hatching, and are fed by both parents for another 8-10 weeks.

Range:   An eastern population ranges west through southern Canada from southern New Brunswick and Ontario to the eastern edge of the U.S. Great Plains, south to Florida, the Gulf Coast, and eastern Mexico. Only northernmost populations are migratory. A western population breeds west of the Sierra Nevada from northern California to northern Baja California, and has recently expanded into Oregon and Arizona, and east of the Sierra Nevada in California and southern Nevada.

Brief Description:   Adults have brownish heads, reddish chests, and pale bellies with reddish bars. Their tails, which are quite long by Buteo standards, are marked with narrow white bars. Red "shoulders" are visible when the birds are perched. These hawks' upper parts are dark with pale spots and they have long yellow legs. Western birds may appear more red, while Florida birds are generally paler.