Medium-sized hawk with slim body and fairly long tail. Wings are broad and somewhat square at the tips when soaring. Adults have extensively reddish brown underparts. Tail and flight feathers are banded black and white.

The red-shouldered hawk is a medium-sized buteo with relatively long wings. The rufous shoulder patches, which give the species its name, are diagnostic when visible, but only present in adults. In flight, the red-shouldered hawk is best distinguished by its black-and-white checkered flight feathers and the whitish crescent at the base of the ...

Red-shouldered Hawk is a medium-sized buteo, smaller than Red-tailed Hawk but slightly larger than Broad-winged Hawk. In the East, they are found in riparian or swampy woodlands. In the West, they are found in oak woodlands, riparian areas, and suburban areas with large trees.

The red-shouldered hawk is a small “buteo” (pronounced “beauty-o”), or soaring hawk. It gets its name from red or rust-colored patches on the upper shoulders. The head and back are dark brown. It has bold black and white stripes on its tail and flight feathers, red-orange chest, and pale underwing feathers.

Adult Red-shouldered hawks can be distinguished by the reddish coloration of their underparts and wing linings and their 5 - 6 narrow, white tail bands. In flight, they show crescent-shaped translucent patches lining the bases of the long, outermost wing feathers (the "primaries").

The red-shouldered hawk (Buteo lineatus) is a medium-sized buteo. Its breeding range spans eastern North America and along the coast of California and northern to northeastern-central Mexico. It is a permanent resident throughout most of its range, though northern birds do migrate, mostly to central Mexico.

Feb 14, 2013 · Medium-sized hawk with slim body and fairly long tail. Wings are broad and somewhat square at the tips when soaring. Adults have extensively reddish brown underparts. Tail and flight feathers are banded black and white. © Bob MacDonnell / Macaulay Library Connecticut, February 14, 2013

A worldwide community photographing and learning about wildlife. A 9.5 inch (24.13 cm) long feather from a Red-shouldered Hawk, photographed in situ along "Basin Trail." "The Feather Atlas - Flight Feathers of North American Birds" Web site shows several similar-looking feathers.

Better field marks are the strongly barred black-and-white tail and upper wing feathers. This barring in the wing produces a translucent or light patch near the tip of the underwing. The male and female red-shouldered hawk have similar plumage, but the female is …

Adult striking: narrow black and white bands on flight feathers of wings and tail, reddish shoulders and chest. West coast birds redder, Florida ones paler, grayer-headed. Juveniles in east are browner, with narrower bars on tail.