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Fun Facts
Did You Know?
Red-Tailed Hawk — Larger, chunkier, with a solidish red or brown tail rather than the multiple narrow black-and-white bands of the red-shouldered. Plain white belly with a single dark belly band versus the red-shouldered's extensive rusty barring. The iconic movie-eagle scream is the red-tail's; the red-shouldered's call is higher-pitched and more repetitive. If the hawk screams and then does something else, it's probably a red-tail. If it sounds like it's reading from a prepared list of grievances, it's a red-shouldered
If This Animal Could Talk...
"Watch closely, respect my space, and let my habitat explain the rest of the story."
The most vocal hawk in North Louisiana is also the most reliably present one, which means you are never more than a few minutes from a red-shouldered hawk in bottomland hardwood forest, and you will almost never find it by sight. You will find it by sound. Buteo lineatus announces its presence constantly, defends its territory loudly, communicates with its mate across the canopy, and apparently regards silence as a personal failure. The "kee-yer" scream echoes through river corridors and cypress bottoms from February through December, and after you learn it you will hear it everywhere you go in North Louisiana woods. You get used to it. It becomes the sound of the place.
When you finally locate the bird after following the calling for several minutes, it will be staring at you from a low branch over a creek with the expression of something that has been watching you look in the wrong direction for a while and has formed opinions about your fieldcraft.
A Few More Facts
How they hunt and forage: Red-shouldered hawks eat small mammals, reptiles, amphibians, birds, CRAWFISH, and large insects — whatever is available and catchable in the wetland forest habitat they prefer. In bottomland hardwood country near water, the diet skews heavily toward amphibians and CRAWFISH. In upland forest, it skews toward small mammals. The birds adapt to what the habitat provides, which is why a red-shouldered hawk on the Ouachita River and a red-shouldered hawk in an upland pine forest are eating fairly different menus despite being the same species. They hunt primarily from low perches near water — sitting still, watching, dropping on prey when it appears. The hunting is patient and the strike is fast. Some individuals, particularly younger birds, hunt from the ground in wetlands and fields, standing at the edge of shallow water waiting for frogs and CRAWFISH to move within range. Ground hunting looks unusual for a hawk but works well enough in the right habitat that some birds use it regularly.
Live birth or eggs? no
When young are born: See the detailed species sections below.
Photo Gallery
What Is the Red-Shouldered Hawk Often Confused With?
Adults are chunky, broad-winged raptors with rusty-red shoulders — visible as rusty-red patches on the upper wings when the bird is perched, and as a V-shaped stripe across the upper wings in flight. That's the name and the field mark in one package. The tail is banded black and white with multiple narrow horizontal bands — more bands, narrower bands — which separates red-shouldered hawks from red-tailed hawks at a glance. The belly has a reddish-brown and white barred pattern rather than the red-tail's plain white belly with a single dark belly band. The barring extends onto the legs, which is visible when the bird is perched and gives even the legs a decorated appearance. Feet are orangish-yellow rather than the paler yellow of red-tailed hawks, if you can get close enough to check.
Drag the handle left and right to compare Red-Shouldered Hawk side by side with the species it gets mistaken for most.
Open the visual comparison tool
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Accessibility
Accessibility
Red-shouldered hawks are among the more accessible raptors in North Louisiana because they call constantly, hunt in open and semi-open wetland edges rather than deep forest interior, and have habituated to human presence in suburban and park settings. Following the "kee-yer" call is the most reliable location method — the bird is always telling you where it is, and walking toward the sound will put you within visual range within a few minutes in most woodland settings.
For visitors with mobility limitations, red-shouldered hawks are productive targets for vehicle-based observation along bottomland forest roads. They perch on low branches over water at eye level or below — they are not treetop hawks — and hold position long enough for sustained observation. The bird is looking down at the water for prey, not away from the road, which means it is frequently oriented toward you rather than away.
For visitors who are blind or have low vision, the red-shouldered hawk's "kee-yer" call is one of the most distinctive and directionally trackable bird sounds in North Louisiana's forest edge habitat. Once you learn the call — which takes hearing it two or three times — you will hear it everywhere you go in bottomland forest. The call locates the bird spatially well enough to bring a sighted companion to the right tree without visual assistance.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Does Red-Shouldered Hawk live in North Louisiana?
Yes. The most vocal hawk in North Louisiana is also the most reliably present one, which means you are never more than a few minutes from a red-shouldered hawk in bottomland hardwood forest, and you will almost never find it by sight. The "kee-yer" scream echoes through river corridors and cypress bottoms from February through December, and after you learn it you will hear it everywhere you go in North Louisiana woods. Females lay two to five eggs, typically three, in March or April in North Louisiana, and incubate for about 33 days while the male hunts and guards the territory.
How do you identify Red-Shouldered Hawk?
Adults are chunky, broad-winged raptors with rusty-red shoulders — visible as rusty-red patches on the upper wings when the bird is perched, and as a V-shaped stripe across the upper wings in flight. That's the name and the field mark in one package
What does Red-Shouldered Hawk eat?
What They Eat
Red-shouldered hawks eat small mammals, reptiles, amphibians, birds, CRAWFISH, and large insects — whatever is available and catchable in the wetland forest habitat they prefer. In bottomland hardwood country near water, the diet skews heavily toward amphibians and CRAWFISH. In upland forest, it skews toward small mammals. The birds adapt to what the habitat provides, which is why a red-shouldered hawk on the Ouachita River and a red-shouldered hawk in an upland pine forest are eating fairly different menus despite being the same species.
They hunt primarily from low perches near water — sitting still, watching, dropping on prey when it appears. The hunting is patient and the strike is fast. Some individuals, particularly younger birds, hunt from the ground in wetlands and fields, standing at the edge of shallow water waiting for frogs and CRAWFISH to move within range. Ground hunting looks unusual for a hawk but works well enough in the right habitat that some birds use it regularly.
When a red-shouldered hawk shows up in a yard with a bird feeder, the songbirds go silent and motionless. This is correct behavior on their part and tells you the hawk has arrived before you've looked out the window. A yard that was full of cardinal chips, chickadee calls, and tufted titmouse complaints goes quiet simultaneously, and the silence is the announcement. The hawk is usually perched somewhere nearby looking patient, and the songbirds are in the densest available cover looking like they're not there. Both parties wait. The hawk is patient.
The songbirds are more patient, because the consequence of impatience is different for each of them. Eventually the hawk leaves, the songbirds reassess, and one brave chickadee makes a chip call to test whether the coast is clear — the scout chip, the "okay I think it's gone" call that everyone in the yard is listening for. It either is or it isn't. Either way the morning resumes. The hawk, wherever it is, is already working the next drainage.
Is Red-Shouldered Hawk dangerous to people?
No. This species is not dangerous to people when it is observed without handling or disturbance
