Red-shouldered Hawk

Red-shouldered Hawks have a strange range. Most birds breed in the eastern United States and southeastern Canada. An isolated population nests from central Oregon to Baja California. These western hawks are smaller than the eastern ones, have a solid rufous breast, and wider, white tail bands. This image is my first of this race.

The western population, Buteo linatus elegans, has expanded its range into Arizona. Birds are also moving north in the winter east of the Cascades into northern Oregon and Washington. The species is considered to be rare, but increasing in Washington, the first record for the state being from the Nisqually national wildlife refuge in 1979. We photographed this Red-shouldered Hawk on 14 January 2022 at the refuge. This and an immature bird have been reported most of the 2021/2022 winter. We previously listed Red-shouldered Hawks at the refuge in September and October 2019.