Red-shouldered Hawk

 The red-shouldered hawk is a medium sized hawk that is typically found in the eastern half of the United States and along the Pacific coast in California. They are forest hawks that typically ambush their prey, located on the forest floor, from a perch in the trees. Their main prey is small rodents, such as mice, voles, rats, moles, chipmunks, and ground squirrels. They will also take other prey such as tree squirrels, rabbits, reptiles, amphibians, birds and larger bugs, when available. They stay on territory all year long through out most of their range, with only the birds in the farthest north regions migrating to central Mexico for the winter.

There are five different subspecies of red-shouldered hawks. The subspecies with the largest range is the lineatus subspecies. Often called the northern red-shouldered they are found from Kansas to the Atlantic Coast, in the south, up to southern Canada. These red-shouldered hawks are larger in size then the other subspecies. The top photo is a northern red-shouldered hawk photographed in Minnesota. There are 2 subspecies in Florida, alleni and extimus. the extimus subspecies is found only in the southern parts of Florida. The Florida subspecies are smaller and usually lighter in color especially around the face. The bird in the photo above was photographed in Florida. The last eastern subspecies is texamus and they are found in eastern Texas and northeastern Mexico. There is one subspecies, elegans, found along the Pacific coast mostly in California. Their breast and belly are more orange and have less barring then the other subspecies. This subspecies used to be called the red-bellied hawk. 

Red-shouldered hawks breed once per year, typically between April and July. They often sue the same nest year after year with both male and female helping to refurbish it. The average clutch size is three to four eggs which are usually laid with in two to three days. The eggs are incubated for a little over a month before they hatch. It is around six weeks before the chicks are ready to fly. After they fledge the young will hang around for another three to four months before they will leave their parents territory to find a place of their own. This last photo shows the different coloration of an immature Florida red-shouldered hawk.

Red-shouldered Hawk

Red-shouldered Hawk

The red-shouldered hawk is a medium sized Buteo found primarily in the eastern half of the United States. There are several subspecies of red-shouldered that differ by coloration, size and geography. The norther red-shoulders that we see here in Minnesota are a bit larger and dark. They look similar to a red-taled hawk but they are not as stocky and their breast is usually pretty orange. This subspecies migrates to Mexico for the winter. The red-shouldered subspecies that is found in Florida, like the one above, is much lighter and color as well as a bit smaller. They are much more common down in south Florida. Every time we have visited we saw more red-shouldered then we did red-tailed hawk. They are much more uncommon here in Minnesota. There is also one subspecies that is found along the California coast far away from any of the other subspecies of red-shouldered hawk.

Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary

The Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary is an Audubon sanctuary located in south western Florida. The sanctuary began back in the early 1900's when the National Audubon Society hired a game warden to protect the rookery in the Corkscrew area. The rookery was a nesting place for many egrets who were hunted at the time for their plumes. As the plume trade died out, partially due to laws passed to help protect many of the species that had been hunted to near extinction, the rookery prospered and the wardens retired. The swamp was safe until the 1940's when loggers moved into the area and began removing 500 year old trees. People living in the area were concerned of losing all of the forest to logging so the National Audubon Society along with many other concerned groups began a campaign to raise the money necessary to purchase and protect the swam.

By 1954 almost 5700 acres had been acquired and the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary was born. The new sanctuary contained the last expanse of virgin bald cypress left in the world. It was also the home of the largest and most important endangered wood stork rookery, see top photo, in the United States. Over time the sanctuary has grown, almost doubling in size. Visitors to the sanctuary back in the 1940's and 1950's  had entered the park by four-wheel drive and toured in canoes. Today the park has 2.25 miles of boardwalk that runs through out wetland and lets visitors get up real close and personal to the wildlife. Besides the 200 species of birds that can be found in the park there is also 34 species of mammals, 64 species of reptiles and amphibians and thousands of species of insects. I spent a good part of two days exploring the swamp but like usual I wished I would have had more time.

Buteo

Last week we talked about Accipiters, one of the two genus' that make up the hawk family. This week it is time to explore the rest of the hawks which reside in the Buteo genus. Buteos have long wings and relatively short tail which are perfect for soaring. Most Buteos hunt by ambushing their prey, preferring not to waste their energy in a chase. They mainly eat small mammals but they are usually generalists and opportunists and they will also eat reptiles, amphibians, birds, and carrion.
The largest of the Buteos that we see here in Minnesota, as well as the most common, is the red-tailed hawk. Every day on my way to and from work I can count on spotting several red-tails perched on the light poles on the side of the freeway. Red-tails are a border species meaning they often live on the edges of wooded areas and open fields. They will nest in the safety of the woods as well as roosting there at night but they need the open fields to hunt in. Roadsides are good hunting habitat since there are not many large trees in the way, there are usually a good number of rodents around, and the grass is typically cut shorter making it easier to find their prey. The bird in the first pic is a young red-tailed hawk.
Some of the other Buteos that we see here in Minnesota are broad-winged hawks, second photo, and the red-shouldered hawks, above. The broad-winged hawk is the smallest of the Buteos in this area. Their smaller size allows them to live and hunt in wooded areas that the bigger Buteos have a more difficult time navigating. Each year these birds migrate down to South America for the winter. They migrate over Minnesota in groups called kettles that sometimes consists of thousands of birds. The red-shouldered hawk is slightly smaller then the red-tail with a forty inch wingspan. They are found in the south eastern part of the state, usually near a wetland, and are much less common then the red-tail or broad-winged hawks. We also see Swainson's hawks, mostly in the south western part of the state, and rough legged hawks, that migrate into the area for the winter.

Red-shouldered Hawk

Most of the time when you see a large hawk perched in a tree near the edge of the woods in Minnesota it is a red-tailed hawk, but every now and again if you look a little closer you might find something a little bit different. Such was the case when I spotted this red-shouldered hawk perched in a dead tree in Rice Lake NWR.

Red-shouldered hawks are slightly smaller then red-tails, with a length of around 17" and a wing span of around 40" compared to 19' and 49' respectively for the red-tail. They are found through out the eastern portions of the US, except for one subspecies that lives in California. Minnesota is on the north west border of their range so they are not that numerous here. Mostly we see them in the summer with the majority of the population in this area migrating south to the south eastern states or Mexico, although I have seen them here on occasion during milder winters. Like the red-tail, they are ambush hunters. They often sit on a favorite perch watching for unsuspecting rodents, lizards, amphibians, small mammals, or birds to come by and then they drop down on them.

Christmas Bird Counts 2008

Over the next couple of months do not be surprised to see multiple posts on many days. While going over things over the holidays I have found that I have over 150 posts still in draft form. That is enough to post one post a day for around five months, and that does not count pics that I will be taking during these winter months.
I spent last weekend doing two Christmas Bird Counts. These were the only two CBCs that I did this year, compared to the five that I did last year. The main reason for the cut back was that I did not do the Duluth and Two Harbors counts this year because the dates were not on the same weekend like they were last year. It would have been hard to drive two and a half to three hours up there in the early morning, spend all day on the count and then drive back in the dark. So this year I just worked on the Hastings and Redwing CBCs. I did Hastings on Saturday with Drew which is where I photographed the kestrel pictured above.

This red-shouldered hawk was also from the Hastings count on Saturday. Drew and I found 27 different species. On Sunday I went out with Jim and Jim and we found 22 different species on the Redwing count. This year I decided to concentrate more on the count, which is why I did not take many pics. I brought the camera just in case we needed to document anything that we found. The funny thing was that on Sunday we found a small flock of cowbirds, on a farm south of Redwing, that I should have taken a picture for documentation but I did not even think about it. After all they were cowbirds, a common bird that I frequently see that many people consider a pest, but they are rare in Minnesota at this time of the year so I really should have taken a pic. I guess I will know better next year.

Red-shouldered vs red-tailed hawk

On a post that I made earlier this week about a red-shouldered hawk, that I relocated, AW posted a comment asking how the red-shouldered hawk flies with respect to the red-tailed hawk. This was a great question and one that, quite frankly, I was not sure what the answer was. So I did a little bit of research and here is what I have found. Most online resources that I found do not explain very well, if at all, the flight patterns of the birds. However the Carolina Raptor Center website does include an explanation of flight in each raptors description.
The active flight of the red-shouldered hawk is accipiter like, with 3-5 quick shallow beats followed by a period of gliding. When it is soaring the wingtips of the red-shouldered hawk droop slightly, and it does not hover. Other features that can help identify a red-shoulder in flight are the translucent crescents at the base of the primaries, the smaller size and the longer tail. The photo above was taken in California in 2007 and is a good example of the shape of the red-shouldered in flight.
The active flight of the red-tailed hawk has slow deep wing beats. When it is soaring the red-tail will usually have its wings in a slight dihedral, or V shape. The red-tail can also hover or kite in the wind. Red-tails typically appear stockier with a shorter tail that often has a red tone to it. The above red-tail photo was also taken in California in 2007 and shows the differences in the wing shape between the two species of buteos.

The differences in flight may correlate to each species preferred habitat. The red-shouldered hawk is usually found in wooded area near to a water source. Red-tails are a border species who typically live at the edge of the woods where it meets open field. Since red-tails do much of their hunting over open fields they can spend a lot of time soaring and conserve energy. Birds that live inside more forested areas, such as red-shouldered hawks, would need to do more flapping and maneuvering to get around. Their longer tail would help them in their maneuvering.

Thanks AW for visiting my site and asking a great question. One of the great things that I have found out about blogging is that I seem to learn something new all the time which in the end is making me more knowlegeable and a better birder.

Red Souldered Hawk Relocated

On Monday the 4th I was able to relocate the red-shouldered that I spotted back in January over by Carpenter Nature Center.
He was in a small tree in an open field off of highway 10 not far from the intersection of highway 61
This is near where I saw him the last time so he must be finding prey in the nearby fields.

Red-Shouldered Hawk

After I left Carpenter Nature Center last Thursday my plan was to head over to the MPS airport and check for the snowy owl which has continued to allude me. I was driving up highway 10, coming from Wisconsin, and heading to highway 61 when I spotted a raptor on the telephone wires. I only got a quick glance at his back, he was facing away from me, as I drove by. My first thought was that it was another red-tailed hawk, since we have a lot of red-tails in the area at this time of year, but something just did not seem right. So I made a u-turn, as soon as traffic would let me, and headed back to take a closer look.

I got back to where the hawk was perched and pulled off the road on the opposite side of the street. It was still facing the other way but when I was able to look at it with out worrying about swerving into opposing traffic I was sure that it was not a red-tail. Then it turned its head and I knew exactly what it was.

There have been a lot of reports lately of red-shouldered hawk sightings. This is strange because most of the population migrates to warmer climates during the winter months.
Fortunately this red-shoulder was very cooperative. He took off from the wire and landed on a fence that was about eye level to me as I sat in my truck.

Red-shouldered hawks range almost exclusevily in North America. There are 5 different subspecies, one in the southwest US, mostly California, three in the southeast US and Mexico, and one in the northeast US. The red-shoulders that live in Minnesota would be from the northeastern subspecies, buteo lineatus lineatus, which are larger in size and the only group that is migratory.
The red-shoulders hawks prefered habitat is deciduous or mixed deciduous-conifer forests and swamps. They prefer having dead trees around on which ti perch so that they can get an unobstructed view as they scan the forest floor for prey. Their prey consists mostly of rodents, squirrels, rabbits, snakes, lizards and frogs.Red-shoulders are monogamous and territorial. Breeding accures between April and July with the same nest often reused from year to year, although they may refurbish it in the spring.Red-shouldered hawks live an average of only about 2 years in the wild. Even though they have very few predators, great horned owls and raccoons are a threat to the eggs, chicks and incubating adult, collisions with cars, buildings and other man mad objects as well as habbitat loss are contributing factors to their short life expectency.

Immature Red-Shouldered Hawk on Sanibel Island

While in Florida we often stay on Sanibel Island. It is kind of expensive but well worth the cost.
Sanibel is a barrier island in the gulf coast located near Fort Meyers. It is the home to many great beaches which are great for people watching or shelling. I have even seen porpoise come fairly close to the beach to watch all of the crazy tourists.

Staying on Sanibel also makes the trips to Ding Darling NWR pretty short, but you do not always need to go to the refuge to spot wildlifeWe spotted this immature red-shouldered hawk perched on the outskirts of the residential part of Sanibel. Red-shouldered hawks, osprey and kestrels are the most common raptors that we have seen on all of our trips to Florida. We have also seen eagles, barred owls and several other types of hawks on our trips. The next time that we visit, we plan to go and find some burrowing owls because we did not have the time in 2006.