The red-shouldered hawk is a forest bird. It’s loud call (kee-aah) can be heard early in the breeding season when it is courting and establishing its nesting territory. The call is often mimicked by the blue jay. Their wingspan can range from 35-50 inches. Males weigh 1.21 pounds and females weigh 1.5 pounds.
The hawks are usually seen perched where they wait to pounce on prey rather than soaring like the red-tailed hawks. These hawks have a presence in the piney woods of East Texas to as far as the Edwards Plateau region here in central Texas. They breed in Texas mid-February to late June based on eggs collected. Their habitats coincide very closely with those of the Barred Owl, with which these hawks often nest in close proximity without apparent conflict. These raptors often use the same nest in alternate years. The owl and the hawk occasionally use the same nest successively in the same season; and there are some cases of mixed clutches in which both species incubate. They also eat similar prey and hunt in the same area, one by night and the other by day.
The Cherokee belief is that red-tailed and red-shouldered hawks are messengers of vision. When you see one of these beautiful birds, whatever it was you were thinking about at the time is going to happen to you or it is going to come true and manifest in your life.
