The Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus) is a medium-sized raptor of North America, named for the rich rufous patches on its shoulders that stand out against dark brown upperparts checkered with white, while its underparts show warm reddish barring and its tail is boldly marked with narrow black-and-white bands. Found year-round across the eastern United States and in isolated populations along the California coast, with some northern populations migrating short distances south in winter, it favors mature deciduous or mixed forests near water, particularly bottomland hardwoods, swamps, and riverine woodlands, where it hunts from perches for small mammals, amphibians, reptiles, and occasionally birds. Its call, a distinctive, piercing "kee-yer," is so recognizable that it's frequently used in film and television as a generic sound for eagles and other birds of prey, despite belonging to this comparatively smaller hawk. Highly territorial, Red-shouldered Hawks often return to the same nesting territory year after year, building large stick nests high in the forest canopy, and they're known for their aerial courtship displays involving steep dives and circling flights accompanied by vocal calling, as well as for tolerating close proximity to human development more readily than many other woodland raptors.
