Back for the Fifth Year in a Row
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| Red-shouldered Hawk |
I was busy in town when I received a text saying, 'Our Red-shouldered Hawk is back!' I thought I would not have a chance to see it because I could not come directly home. Fortunately a few minutes after I returned, it flew through the yard perching briefly in a tree out front. I felt like a friend had returned. Earlier he had perched in a close tree for about half and hour while he rested and preened.
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| Red-shouldered Hawk [M Schneider Photo] |
The back of the Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus) is distinctive. Notice the white circles made by the feather edges and the white stripes in the tail. None of our other hawk species has a pattern on the back like this. Some have white horizontal streaks or crescents and occasionally the Accipiters (Cooper's, Sharp-shinned, Goshawk) show large white spots on the back when they ruffle their feathers, but even that looks different. And, they do not have white stripes in their long tails.
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| Red-shouldered Hawk [M Schneider Photo] |
This is the fifth year in a row we have had a visit from a Red-shouldered Hawk. In fact, I have been waiting for his visit this year! Here are the dates of his previous visits (I am assuming this is the same bird, which is quite likely).
2014 - March 29
2015 - April 6
2016 - March 24
2017 - April 5
2018 - March 28
The video above was taken in 2016 and shows the Red-shouldered Hawk very well. What a beautiful bird!
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