邻居家树上的赤肩鵟（4K视频）
A Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus) in the Neighbor's Tree
1/24/2026
Camera: Nikon P1000
The following introduction was provided by gemini:
This bird is an adult Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus).
You can identify it by several key features visible in the image: the warm orange-red barring on its breast, the dark head, and the distinct black-and-white checkered pattern on its wings.
Brief Introduction
The Red-shouldered Hawk is a medium-sized forest hawk common across the eastern United States and parts of California. They are often found near water, such as swamps, river bottoms, and wooded wetlands.
Personality: They are known as one of the most vocal hawks in North America. You’ll often hear their distinctive, screaming "kee-aah" call long before you see them. Fun fact: Blue Jays are famous for imitating this exact call to trick other birds!
Hunting: Unlike their larger cousin, the Red-tailed Hawk (which prefers open fields), Red-shouldered Hawks hunt from perches within the forest canopy. Their diet is quite diverse, including small mammals, snakes, lizards, and amphibians like frogs and crayfish.
Appearance: While the "red shoulder" patch (the lesser coverts) gives them their name, it can sometimes be hard to see when they are perched. The most reliable ID marks are the boldly banded black-and-white tail and the translucent "commas" or "windows" near their wingtips that are visible when they fly overhead.
Red-shouldered vs. Red-tailed
It’s easy to mix them up, but a quick way to tell is that Red-tailed Hawks usually have a "belly band" of dark streaks on a white chest, whereas the Red-shouldered Hawk (like the one in your photo) has that beautiful, consistent orange-red wash across its entire breast.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouMk0OjH-A0
