Red Shouldered Hawks in Texas

Red Shouldered Hawks in Texas  –  (Buteo lineatus) are a common sight in the Eastern part of our state. You can often find these handsome Buteos close to water within forested areas. They can be observed hunting from a perches near streams or other water. In spring  Red-shouldered Hawks in Texas can be seen patrolling their nesting areas. They are a very vocal bird, especially during the nesting season and their call is distinctive and loud. Red-shouldered Hawks in Texas prey on small mammals, birds, lizards, snakes and amphibians.

Texas Red Shouldered Hawk Appearance

The adult birds are slender and richly colored with red highlights and black and white checkering on the wings. In contrast,  the immature birds are more brown and show heavily streaked underparts and lack the distinct flight feather checkering. According to the North American Breeding Bird Survey, Red Shouldered Hawks populations have increased over the previous fifty years and seem to be stable.

Red Shouldered Hawks in Texas tend to use the same nest site over multiple years. The hawks usually place the nests in large deciduous or conifer trees well above the ground.  A pair may have nested near my neighborhood earlier this spring and possibly the fledged young and parents made themselves obvious over the past few weeks. I’m not sure of the actual location of the nesting site, but I had seen the adult birds frequently over the past few months. I suspect it wasn’t far away.

I was out in the yard this week and the adult and at least one immature bird were making quite a racket. They were moving from perch to perch in the large trees in my neighborhood. It seemed a good opportunity to capture a few images.  I managed to grab a couple of photos, albeit not that great. The lighting was terrible. However I did capture one of the birds in flight in a poorly back lit photo.

Update – June 2020

The nesting pair fledged a new generation this year and the juveniles are wandering the neighborhood again. I have attached a few close up images.

Update: 3

Update: 2

The immature Hawk landed in a tree in my backyard today and the lighting was better than previous image captures.

Update:

Added some additional photos of the Hawk from this morning

While I was trying to get some better shots, two Mississippi Kites visited overhead. They were wheeling just above the treetops and didn’t give much of a photo opp, but I took what I could get.  I have had Mississippi and Swallow-tailed Kites passing through before, mostly during migration. See this link for some images of a graceful Swallow-tailed Kite in a previous post.

It’s always nice to have resident raptors or migrants passing through. Red Shouldered Hawks in Texas are one of the species that I enjoy having around.

Check out my Brazoria Bird Collection for more local bird photos.

For posts on individual species, navigate to the “Birds I have Known” category