17 inches long with a 40-inch wingspan. The Red-shouldered Hawk is a relatively long-tailed hawk with long legs, It often sits with a hunched-over look. In flight it shows pale translucent crescents at the base of the black primaries. The underwing coverts are reddish. The adult has reddish shoulders and wing linings with extensive checkered black and white spotting above. The chest has reddish streaks.
The Red-shouldered Hawk is seen uncommonly in the area and might be seen migrating along the bluffs. It had nested in the forest in the early 1990’s.
The Red-shouldered Hawk has a range that is just south and east of our area but becoming more common in recent years.
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