Red Shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus)

Description:

Red-shouldered hawks are medium-sized raptors with sharp eyes, broad strong wings and long legs. Fully grown, they reach a length of 17 to 24 inches (43 to 61 cm), with a 36- to 40-inch (91 to 101 cm) wingspan. Females are slightly larger than males. Distinguishing characteristics include reddish shoulders, a rust-colored breast with white and dark streaks, long, narrow and blackish-brown wings with black and white stripes on the undersides, long tails with narrow black and white bands and white tips, and a translucent "window" patch on each wing at the base of their primary feathers.

Habitat:

Red-shouldered hawks prefer moist woodlands, such a bottomland hardwood forests or deciduous or mixed forests bordering lakes, streams or other wetlands.