A friend recently sent me a photo of a hawk which had perched in a tree in her yard. It was a handsome specimen, with light rufous shoulders, or upper-wing coverts, to be precise. It also had reddish barring on the chest and belly.
It was a red-shouldered hawk, a year-round resident in our area and the most brightly colored hawk we have.
I researched this medium- sized hawk, whose Latin name is buteo lineatus, and discovered it is noticeably smaller than a red-tailed hawk, which is also found in Texas. An adult red-shouldered hawk has wings and tail which are boldly checkered and barred black and white, a pattern much more dramatic than most other hawks. Juvenile birds are pale, with some brown streaking on the chest but without the belly band found on adults.
