Red-shouldered Hawk

Starting to see more of them in NW Ohio

The red-shouldered hawk has been conspicuously absent from much of Ohio including Northwest Ohio. Their numbers have been down over the past couple decades but now seem to be making a bit of a come back.

The Red-shouldered Hawk

They are still not a frequent sight in Northwest Ohio, but more and more of these birds are being seen here especially in and around the Oak Openings Region. There are larger tracts of forest in the Oak Openings which they like.

Click the icon to hear the call of the red-shouldered hawk

Identification

This hawk has red shoulders (thus the name) and black banded wings and tail. The tail also has narrow white banding. The breast is lighter colored but still has a reddish color to it.

An immature red-shouldered has a brown back, wings, and tail. The breast is white with brown spots or steaks.

They also have a very distinct call and are especially noisy during mating season.

Where it Lives

Red-shouldered hawks like a variety of different habitats. They will live and nest in swampy woodlands to upland hardwood forest or pine forest.

They prefer larger stands of forest area with more mature trees. They like to be closer to water and like a pretty dense canopy of leaves.

Watching it Hunt

These birds usually hunt for small animals and rodents like mice and vols. They will sit on a low branch and watch for movement under the leaves on the forst floor. When they see something move they will pounce on the spot and shuffle through the leaves looking for the prey.

This Red-shouldered had just jumped
out of a tree

Like other raptors, their eye sight is amazing. I have looked out our window to watch them in our woods. They will almost always see me in the window and fly off in to the woods.

Nests

Nests are almost always in the main crotch of very large trees. They like the support of 3 or 4 large branches around the nest.

In pine trees they will usually build the nest up against the trunk of the tree where a group of branches meet.

Young Hawks

Nest construction usually begins in March. They lay their eggs in late March to early April.

The young hatch by late April to early May. The young then fledge the nest in early to mid June.

Raising a Red-shouldered Hawk

We have been fortunate to have had a pair of red-shouldered hawks nesting on our property over the past few years. They built have used a nest at the front of our property in a very large black oak tree.

This little guy had just left the nest

This past year (2007) there were two young that fledged the nest in June. I was able to watch the two birds leave the nest one afternoon. It was quite a sight.

Red-shouldered hawks don't fledge the nest on auto-pilot. They have to learn how to fly the hard way.

They started by hopping out of the nest and climbed through the branches of the tree for quite a while. Every once in a while they would slip and end up hanging upside down, flopping through the branches.

After a while they became accustomed to the branches and were able to sight upright. I wasn't there when they took to the air, but I imagine that was an interesting sight also.

Somewhat Approachable

Red-shouldered hawks will become somewhat accustomed to people if they are left alone. In the winter while they are hunting they were pretty shy. During he nesting months they are more likely to stay put around their nest.

I was able to get some descent pictures of them as they were nesting in the spring.