Red-shouldered Hawk (Red-shouldered Buzzard)

The Red-shouldered Hawk is a medium-sized forest raptor recognized by its reddish-brown shoulder patches, checkered wings, and long banded tail. Adults feature striking reddish barred underparts and bold white-and-black checkerboard patterns on the upperwings. They are vocal birds, often giving a characteristic high-pitched kee-ah call.

Characterized by prominent dark brown or blackish bars alternating with lighter greyish-brown and white checkered or banded patches across the vane, featuring a pale whitish-grey basal area and a stout pale-colored rachis

Tightly interlocked pennaceous structure with well-developed barbicels and hooklets, small plumulaceous base with a rudimentary or absent afterfeather

Stiff, smooth, and matte texture with rigid vanes designed to withstand high aerodynamic pressure during soaring and flapping flight

Distinctive alternating dark brown and white/grey barring pattern across a broad, rounded secondary flight feather from a medium-sized raptor

Deciduous and mixed forests, often near rivers, swamps, bottomland hardwoods, and flooded plains

Resident across eastern North America, along the Pacific coast of California, and extending into parts of Mexico

Apex avian predator playing a vital role in regulating small mammal, reptile, and amphibian populations in forested wetland ecosystems

Broad-winged Hawk and Red-tailed Hawk, distinguished by smaller size compared to Red-tailed and different fine checkered banding patterns compared to Broad-winged

Red-shouldered Hawks often use the same nest year after year, frequently adding fresh green sprigs of evergreen or deciduous foliage to the lining

Good condition with intact barbs and minimal fraying at the tip, showing slight sun bleaching along the outer edges