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Henry Sowell

Vol. I · Est. 2026

Pl. XLII
Field-journal plate: Red-shouldered Hawk
The Red-shouldered Hawk plate as rendered on the e-ink frame
As rendered on the frame

The Birds · Plate XLII

Red-shouldered Hawk

Buteo lineatus

Accipitridae · Taxon 5206

Length43–61 cm (16.9–24.0 in)
Wingspan94–111 cm (37.0–43.7 in)
Weight486–774 g (17.1–27.3 oz)

Field marks

  1. Medium-sized, slim-bodied hawk with a relatively long, banded tail.
  2. Adults show warm rufous to reddish barring across the underparts.
  3. Upperwings show conspicuous dark-and-pale checkering, with rufous shoulder coverts.
  4. Tail is dark with narrow pale bands; immature birds are browner and more heavily streaked below.
  5. Broad, rounded wings show small translucent pale crescents near the wingtips in flight.
  6. Hooked dark bill with a yellow cere and yellow unfeathered legs.

HabitatMature deciduous or mixed woodland, especially wet forest, bottomland woods, swamps, and wooded waterways; also uses open-canopy woodland edges and some wooded residential areas.

BehaviorPerches and watches for prey, then swoops down; also soars and circles with wings and tail spread.

Palette

rufous redchestnut browndark browncream whiteyellow