Red-shouldered hawk | |
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A red-shouldered hawk near Blue Cypress Lake, Florida | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Accipitriformes |
Family: | Accipitridae |
Genus: | Buteo |
Species: | B. lineatus |
Binomial name | |
Buteo lineatus (Gmelin, 1788) | |
Range of B. lineatus Breeding range Year-round range Wintering range |
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. The main conservation threat to the widespread species is deforestation.
The red-shouldered hawk was formally described in 1788 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae . He placed it with the eagles, hawks and relatives in the genus Falco and coined the binomial name Falco lineatus. [2] Gmelin based his account on the "barred-breasted buzzard" of John Latham and the "red shouldered falcon" of Thomas Pennant. Latham had described a preserved specimen from North America in the Leverian collection while Pennant's specimen formed part of the collection of Anna Blackburne and had come from Long Island. [3] [4] [5] The red-shouldered hawk is now placed with 27 other species in the genus Buteo that was introduced in 1799 by Bernard Germain de Lacépède. [6] [7] The genus name Buteo is Latin for a "buzzard". The specific epithet lineatus is Latin meaning "marked with lines" or "lined". [8]
Five subspecies are recognised: [7]
Males are 38 to 58 cm (15 to 23 in) long and weigh on average 550 g (1.21 lb). Females are slightly larger at 47 to 61 cm (19 to 24 in) in length and a mean weight of 700 g (1.5 lb). The wingspan can range from 90 to 127 cm (35 to 50 in). [9] [10] [11] [12] Adult birds can vary in mass from 460 to 930 g (1.01 to 2.05 lb). Among standard measurements, the wing bone is 28–35 cm (11–14 in) long, the tail is 16–24 cm (6.3–9.4 in) long and the tarsus is 7.5–9 cm (3.0–3.5 in). [13] Adults have brownish heads, reddish chests, and pale bellies with reddish bars. Their tails, which are quite long by Buteo standards, are marked with narrow white bars. Red "shoulders" are visible when the birds are perched. These hawks' upper parts are dark with pale spots and they have long yellow legs. Western birds may appear more red, while Florida birds are generally paler. The wings of adults are more heavily barred on the upper side. Juvenile red-shouldered hawks are most likely to be confused with juvenile broad-winged hawks, but can be distinguished by their long tails, crescent-like wing markings, and a more flapping, Accipiter -like flight style. In direct comparison, it is typically larger and longer proportioned than the broad-wing, though is slightly smaller and more slender than most other common North American Buteo species. This bird is sometimes also confused with the widespread red-tailed hawk. That species is larger and bulkier, with more even-sized, broad wings, and is paler underneath, with a reddish tail often apparent. The red-tail is also more likely to soar steadily, with wings in a slight dihedral.
An eastern population ranges west through southern Canada from southern New Brunswick and Ontario to the eastern edge of the U.S. Great Plains, south to Florida, the Gulf Coast, and eastern Mexico. Only northernmost populations are migratory. A western population breeds west of the Sierra Nevada from northern California to northern Baja California, and has recently expanded into Oregon and Arizona, and east of the Sierra Nevada in California and southern Nevada.
Eastern populations winter from southern Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Ohio, and southern New England south to the Gulf Coast, occasionally throughout breeding range. In winter, they are reported south to Jalisco and Veracruz, Mexico. Western populations are largely nonmigratory. Throughout its winter range, this species avoids higher elevations.
Eastern birds occasionally wander west (e.g., Colorado, Kansas, West Texas, Manitoba, North Dakota) in migration; western birds have strayed east to Arizona, Nevada, Idaho, and Utah, and north to Washington. [14]
In the east, individuals from the northern half of the species’ range are migratory. In the west, most populations are local. Red-shouldered hawks are short- to moderate-distance migrants, with most individuals traveling distances between 300 and 1,500 km each way. The species follows leading lines, migrating along inland ridges and coastlines. Larger numbers of red-shouldered hawks are counted at coastal watch sites than at inland sites. Juveniles often precede adults on migration in autumn, whereas adults precede juveniles in the spring. Red-shouldered hawks typically migrate alone, although they sometimes form small flocks of three or more birds. The species usually avoids crossing large bodies of water. While migrating, red-shouldered hawks are observed in soaring, gliding, and flapping flight. [15]
A study of red-shouldered hawk home range and habitat use in southern California found average home range of 1.2 square kilometres (0.46 sq mi) and showed fair adaptability to human-altered landscapes, which is important as riparian forest habitat has diminished by 98% from 1850 to 1977 in California's Central Valley. [16]
Red-shouldered hawks are forest raptors. In the east, they live in bottomland hardwood stands, flooded deciduous swamps, and upland mixed deciduous–conifer forests. They tend to live in stands with an open subcanopy, which makes hunting easier. They are not exclusively birds of deep forest, though; one can find red-shouldered hawks in some suburban areas where houses or other buildings are mixed into woodlands. In the west, they live in riparian and oak woodlands, and also in eucalyptus groves and some residential areas. [12]
Red-shouldered hawks search for prey while perched on a treetop or soaring over woodlands. When they sight prey, they kill it by dropping directly onto it from the air. They may cache food near their nest for later consumption. [9] When in clearings, they sometimes fly high and then drop to surprise prey. Red-shouldered hawks, like most raptors, have very good vision and reasonably good sense of hearing, with talons capable of killing animals as big as their own size. Small mammals are typically the most common prey, especially rodents. Voles, gophers, mice, moles and chipmunks may locally be favored based on abundance. Slightly larger mammals, such as rabbits and tree squirrels, are also occasionally preyed on. Other prey can include amphibians, reptiles (especially small snakes), birds, fish, and large insects. [17] They will attack birds up to the size of a ruffed grouse or ring-necked pheasant. Steller's jays and blue jays, both of which being potential prey species, sometimes habitually imitate the call of the red-shouldered hawk and are known to be difficult to distinguish on voice alone. [18] During winters, red-shouldered hawks sometimes habituate to preying on birds commonly found at bird feeders. In some areas where they are common, crayfish can be important prey for this species. Unusual food items recorded for the species have included nocturnal animals such as eastern screech owls and flying squirrels and road-killed deer. [19]
The breeding habitats of the red-shouldered hawk are deciduous and mixed wooded areas, often near water. They have been known to nest near residential areas and open water but this is much less common. [20] Red-shouldered hawks select sites with greater tree species richness for nesting. [21] Like almost all raptors, the red-shouldered hawk is monogamous and territorial. While courting or defending territories, the distinctive, screaming kee-aah call (usually repeated three to four times) of this bird is heard. Courtship displays occur on the breeding grounds, and involve soaring together in broad circles while calling, or soaring and diving toward one another. Males may also perform the "sky-dance" by soaring high in the air, and then making a series of steep dives, each followed by a wide spiral and rapid ascent. These courtship flights usually occur in late morning and early afternoon.
Red-shouldered hawks' mating season is between April and July, with activity usually peaking between April and mid-June. The breeding pair builds a stick nest (sometimes including shredded bark, leaves and green sprigs) in a major fork of a large tree. They often use the same nest year after year, refurbishing it annually with sticks in the spring. The clutch size is typically three to four eggs. The blotchy-marked eggs, often brown to lavender in color, measure on average 54.5 mm × 43 mm (2.15 in × 1.69 in). The incubation period can range from 28 to 33 days. Hatching is asynchronous, with the first chick hatching up to a week before the last. The hatchlings, which weigh 35 g (1.2 oz) at first, are brooded almost constantly by the female for up to 40 days. Pairs that nest earlier in the breeding season tend to lay greater numbers of eggs and have higher productivity from those eggs. [22] The male more often captures food but will also incubate and brood occasionally. The young leave the nest at about six weeks of age, but remain dependent on the parents until they are 17 to 19 weeks old. They may continue to roost near the nest site until the following breeding season. Breeding maturity is usually attained at 1 or 2 years of age.
Although they have lived as long as within a month of 20 years old, few live half that long and only around half survive their first year. Each year overall nesting success can be lower than 30 percent. [23] Early mortality can be due to natural causes, relating to harsh weather conditions, or more often starvation. Young hawks are often parasitized by species such as Trichomonas gallinae , Protocalliphora avium , and various species of blood parasites. [24] Humans, intentionally or unintentionally, are a threat to red-shouldered hawks, including hunting, collision with electric wires, road accidents and logging. A further common cause of mortality is natural predation. Raccoons, martens, fishers and large arboreal snakes can prey on eggs, hatchlings, fledglings and occasionally incubating and brooding adults. Non-nesting adults, being a fairly large and powerful predator, have fewer natural predators, but (both during and after the breeding season, as well as among nestlings) they may be preyed on by other red-shouldered hawks, great horned owls, red-tailed hawks, barred owls, american goshawks, peregrine falcons, prairie falcons, and bald and golden eagles. In western New York, the main cause of nest failure was stated to be great horned owl predation. [25] Many of the same predators sometimes compete over territory and food with this species. Despite their highly similar diet and habitat preferences, it has been found that red-shouldered hawks can nest within 48 m (157 ft) of a barred owl without interspecies conflict. [26] In Florida, red-shouldered hawks sometimes collaborate and peaceably coexist with American crows (usually an enemy to all other birds because of their egg-hunting habits) so they cooperatively mob mutual predators, mainly great horned owls and red-tailed hawks. [27]
Red-shouldered hawks have hybridized with gray hawks (Buteo plagiatus), red-tailed hawks (Buteo jamaicensis) and common black hawks (Buteogallus anthracinus). [28]
Prior to 1900, the red-shouldered hawk was one of the most common North American raptors. Population densities have decreased precipitously due to the clearing of mature forests (principally the wet hardwood forest they prefer) since that time. The changing of habitats has led to a general population increase of the red-tailed hawk, an occasional predator of its cousin. Additionally affecting the red-shouldered hawk was the greater availability of firearms in the early 1900s, leading to unchecked hunting of this and all other raptor species until conservation laws took effect in the latter half of the 20th century. Local forest regrowth and the ban of hunting has allowed red-shouldered hawk populations to become more stable again and the species is not currently considered conservation dependent. In Florida, the red-shouldered hawk is perhaps the most commonly seen and heard raptor species (outside of abundant black and turkey vultures). [29] However, human activity, including logging, poisoning from insecticides and industrial pollutants, continue to loom as threats to the species. Before its use was outlawed in the United States, red-shouldered hawks and other raptors suffered from exposure to DDT, a pesticide. The DDT would cause their eggs to have thin, breakable shells, reducing their ability to reproduce. Accidental encounters with power lines and automobiles also take a toll on hawks. In spite of these dangers, habitat loss remains the biggest threat to red-shouldered hawks. [11]
John James Audubon illustrated the red-shouldered hawk in his book Ornithological Biographies .
The common buzzard is a medium-to-large bird of prey which has a large range. It is a member of the genus Buteo in the family Accipitridae. The species lives in most of Europe and extends its breeding range across much of the Palearctic as far as northwestern China, far western Siberia and northwestern Mongolia. Over much of its range, it is a year-round resident. However, buzzards from the colder parts of the Northern Hemisphere as well as those that breed in the eastern part of their range typically migrate south for the northern winter, many journeying as far as South Africa.
Buteo is a genus of medium to fairly large, wide-ranging raptors with a robust body and broad wings. In the Old World, members of this genus are called "buzzards", but "hawk" is used in the New World. As both terms are ambiguous, buteo is sometimes used instead, for example, by the Peregrine Fund.
The rough-legged buzzard (Europe) or rough-legged hawk is a medium-large bird of prey. It is found in Arctic and Subarctic regions of North America, Europe, and Russia during the breeding season and migrates south for the winter. It was traditionally also known as the rough-legged falcon in such works as John James Audubon's The Birds of America.
The great horned owl, also known as the tiger owl or the hoot owl, is a large owl native to the Americas. It is an extremely adaptable bird with a vast range and is the most widely distributed true owl in the Americas. Its primary diet is rabbits and hares, rats and mice, and voles, although it freely hunts any animal it can overtake, including rodents and other small mammals, larger mid-sized mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and invertebrates.
The barred owl, also known as the northern barred owl, striped owl or, more informally, hoot owl or eight-hooter owl, is a North American large species of owl. A member of the true owl family, Strigidae, they belong to the genus Strix, which is also the origin of the family's name under Linnaean taxonomy. Barred owls are largely native to eastern North America, but have expanded their range to the west coast of North America where they are considered invasive. Mature forests are their preferred habitat, but they can also acclimatise to various gradients of open woodlands. Their diet consists mainly of small mammals, but this species is an opportunistic predator and is known to prey upon other small vertebrates such as birds, reptiles, and amphibians, as well as a variety of invertebrates.
The eastern screech owl or eastern screech-owl, is a small owl that is relatively common in Eastern North America, from Mexico to Canada. This species resides in most types of woodland habitats across its range, and is relatively adaptable to urban and developed areas compared to other owls. Although it often lives in close proximity to humans, the eastern screech owl frequently avoids detection due to its strictly nocturnal habits.
Cooper's hawk is a medium-sized hawk native to the North American continent and found from southern Canada to Mexico. This species is a member of the genus Accipiter, sometimes referred to as true hawks, which are famously agile, relatively small hawks common to wooded habitats around the world and also the most diverse of all diurnal raptor genera. As in many birds of prey, the male is smaller than the female. The birds found east of the Mississippi River tend to be larger on average than the birds found to the west. It is easily confused with the smaller but similar sharp-shinned hawk.
The red-tailed hawk is a bird of prey that breeds throughout most of North America, from the interior of Alaska and northern Canada to as far south as Panama and the West Indies. It is one of the most common members within the genus of Buteo in North America or worldwide. The red-tailed hawk is one of three species colloquially known in the United States as the "chickenhawk", though it rarely preys on standard-sized chickens. The bird is sometimes also referred to as the red-tail for short, when the meaning is clear in context. Red-tailed hawks can acclimate to all the biomes within their range, occurring on the edges of non-ideal habitats such as dense forests and sandy deserts. The red-tailed hawk occupies a wide range of habitats and altitudes, including deserts, grasslands, coniferous and deciduous forests, agricultural fields, and urban areas. Its latitudinal limits fall around the tree line in the subarctic and it is absent from the high Arctic. Generally it favors varied habitats with open woodland, woodland edge and open terrain. It is legally protected in Canada, Mexico, and the United States by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.
The ferruginous hawk is a large bird of prey and belongs to the broad-winged buteo hawks. An old colloquial name is ferrugineous rough-leg, due to its similarity to the closely related rough-legged hawk.
The broad-winged hawk is a medium-sized hawk of the genus Buteo. During the summer, some subspecies are distributed over eastern North America, as far west as British Columbia and Texas; they then migrate south to winter in the Neotropics from Mexico south to southern Brazil. Other subspecies are all-year residents on Caribbean islands. As in most raptors, females are slightly larger than males. Broad-winged hawks' wings are relatively short and broad with a tapered, somewhat pointed appearance. The two types of coloration are a dark morph with fewer white areas and a light morph that is more pale overall. Although the broad-winged hawk's numbers are relatively stable, populations are declining in some parts of its breeding range because of forest fragmentation.
The lizard buzzard, or lizard hawk, is a bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. It is native to Sub-Saharan Africa. Despite its name, it may be more closely related to the Accipiter hawks than the Buteo buzzards.
Harris's hawk, formerly known as the bay-winged hawk, dusky hawk, and sometimes wolf hawk, and known in Latin America as the peuco, is a medium-large bird of prey that breeds from the southwestern United States south to Chile, central Argentina, and Brazil. This bird is sometimes reported to be at large in Western Europe, especially Britain, but it is a popular species in falconry and these records almost invariably all refer to escapes from captivity.
The long-legged buzzard is a bird of prey found widely in several parts of Eurasia and in North Africa. This species ranges from Southeastern Europe down to East Africa to the northern part of the Indian subcontinent. The long-legged buzzard is a member of the genus Buteo, being one of the larger species therein. This species is simultaneously considered relatively powerful and aggressive for its taxonomic group as well as a relatively sluggish raptor overall. Like most buzzards, it prefers small mammals such as rodents, including gerbils, ground squirrels, voles and rats, also taking reptiles, birds and insects as well as carrion. Adaptable to a variety of habitats, long-legged buzzards may nest on a variety of surfaces, including rocks, cliffs and trees. it is a typical buzzard in its reproductive biology. The long-legged buzzard is widely distributed and appears to be quite stable in population. Therefore, it is considered as Least Concern by the IUCN.
The zone-tailed hawk is a medium-sized hawk of warm, dry parts of the Americas. It is somewhat similar in plumage and flight style to a common scavenger, the turkey vulture, and may benefit from being able to blend into groups of vultures. It feeds on small terrestrial tetrapods of all kinds.
The roadside hawk is a relatively small bird of prey found in the Americas. This vocal species is often the most common raptor in its range. It has many subspecies and is now usually placed in the monotypic genus Rupornis instead of Buteo.
The rufous-tailed hawk is a species of bird of prey in the family Accipitridae.
The Eurasian goshawk is a species of medium-large bird of prey in the family Accipitridae, a family which also includes other extant diurnal raptors, such as eagles, buzzards and harriers. As a species in the genus Accipiter, the goshawk is often considered a "true hawk". The scientific name is Latin; Accipiter is "hawk", from accipere, "to grasp", and gentilis is "noble" or "gentle" because in the Middle Ages only the nobility were permitted to fly goshawks for falconry.
The common black hawk is a bird of prey in the family Accipitridae, which also includes the eagles, hawks, and vultures.
The short-tailed hawk is an American bird of prey in the family Accipitridae, which also includes the eagles and Old World vultures. As a member of the genus Buteo, it is not a true hawk and thus also referred to as a "buteo" or "buzzard". The white-throated hawk is a close relative and was formerly included in the species B. brachyurus.
Swainson's hawk is a large bird species in the Accipitriformes order. This species was named after William Swainson, a British naturalist. It is colloquially known as the grasshopper hawk or locust hawk, as it is very fond of Acrididae and will voraciously eat these insects whenever they are available.