Red-shouldered hawk

redshoulderhawk:

COMMON NAME: Red-shouldered hawk

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Buteo lineatus

DESCRIPTION:

15 - 19” tall.  Brown back with extensive spotting, rusty-red shoulder patches are not always conspicuous, under parts from his throat to tail are barred with brown, red and white, tail is banded in black and white.

 

LIFE HISTORY:


Life Span:  One wild bird was banded, recaptured and released when 20 years old.

Eggs:  Oval, smooth shell, dull white with a variety of brown spots, streaks and blotches. 

Clutch size:  3, often 4; both female and male incubate for 28 days.

Nest:  Often close to the tree trunk.  Well built of twigs and sticks; lined with strips of bark, leaves, mosses, feathers, and sprigs of evergreen, the outside diameter is 18 – 24”.  The pair has a strong attachment to their nesting territory.

 

ECOLOGY:


Habitat:  He lives in areas of wooded river bottoms, along streams, in moist mixed woodlands or in lowland wet places.

Food:  He eats mice, shrews, moles, tree squirrels, chipmunks, as well as, an occasional bird or reptile.

Ecosystem:  Red-shouldered hawk is a resident in California west of the high Sierra Nevadas.
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