Red-shouldered Hawk Similar Species Comparison
Main SpeciesRed-shouldered Hawk
Adult (lineatus group)
Medium-sized hawk with slim body and fairly long tail. Wings are broad and somewhat square at the tips when soaring. Adults have extensively reddish brown underparts. Tail and flight feathers are banded black and white.
© Bob MacDonnell / Macaulay LibraryConnecticut, February 14, 2013Adult (lineatus group)
Medium-sized hawk with slim shape, small head, and fairly long tail. Adults are rich reddish-brown on the chest.
© Eric Keith / Macaulay LibraryNorth Carolina, November 25, 2017Adult (extimus)
Medium-sized hawk with fine reddish barring on breast and black-and-white checkered wings. The Florida form (extimus) has a paler head and breast than other forms.
© Tom Johnson / Macaulay LibraryFlorida, January 06, 2014Not all videos have sound
Adult (lineatus group)
Eastern adults have richly marked upperparts, with a mix of black, rufous, and white. Long black tail has narrow white bands.
© Brad Imhoff / Macaulay LibraryOhio, November 03, 2019Immature (lineatus group)
Juveniles are more flat brown than adults, with variable dark streaking on the underparts. They lack the adult's strong black-and-white patterning on the flight feathers.
© Jeremiah Trimble / Macaulay LibraryMassachusetts, February 02, 2019Adult
Note broad wings, short tail, and translucent crescents near the tips of the wings. Typically soars holding wings slightly forward of perpendicular.
© Timothy Barksdale / Macaulay LibraryMissouri, February 23, 1998Not all videos have sound
Immature (lineatus group)
Juveniles are brownish above with brown streaking on whitish underparts.
© Cynthia King / Macaulay LibraryNew York, October 11, 2020Immature (lineatus group)
Note fairly long tail, slim body, and squared-off wings with translucent crescents at the tips. Immatures of the eastern subspecies have narrow brown-on-white bands on the tail and flight feathers.
© Gordon Dimmig / Macaulay LibraryPennsylvania, August 18, 2011Adult
A hawk of woodland habitats. Adults have reddish barred chest, broad bars on the tail, and black-and-white checkered wings.
© Timothy Barksdale / Macaulay LibraryMissouri, January 28, 1998Not all videos have sound
Immature (lineatus group)
In flight, note fairly long tail, square-tipped wings, and bright, translucent crescents in the outer wing.
© Graham Gerdeman / Macaulay LibraryTennessee, December 30, 2020Adult (extimus)
In Florida, adults have pale gray heads and light orange-brown barring on the underparts.
© Ad Konings / Macaulay LibraryFlorida, January 17, 2020Adult at nest
Breeds in wooded areas, where pairs build stick nests usually in a crotch in the main trunk of a deciduous tree. This video has no audio.
© Larry Arbanas / Macaulay LibraryTexas, April 19, 2008Not all videos have sound
Immature (extimus)
Immatures from Florida have heavier brown streaking on the breast than on the belly. The flight feathers and the tail have narrow bands of brown and white, more subtle than the black-and-white patterning of adults.
© Marie Chappell / Macaulay LibraryFlorida, March 27, 2017Adult (elegans)
Slim, medium-sized hawk. The California subspecies is rich reddish-orange on the breast, head, and shoulders. The wings are strongly patterned black-and-white, and the tail has strong bands.
© Blake Matheson / Macaulay LibraryCalifornia, September 24, 2020Adult (elegans)
Adults in the "elegans" group, found from Oregon to Baja California, have a solid orange breast, lacking the breast barring of Eastern adults.
© Herb Elliott / Macaulay LibraryCalifornia, December 08, 2019Immature (elegans)
Note fairly long tail, slim body, and squared-off wings with translucent crescents at the tips. Immatures of the California subspecies have dark patterning on the wings and strongly banded tails, in addition to brown streaks on the breast.
© Blake Matheson / Macaulay LibraryCalifornia, September 19, 2017Habitat
Lives in forests, particularly bottomland forests and swamps, but also open upland forests and wooded suburbs.
© David Rudder / Macaulay LibraryMissouri, October 04, 2017Similar SpeciesRed-tailed Hawk
Adult (borealis)
Red-tailed Hawks are larger and bulkier raptors than Red-shouldered Hawks. When perched, Red-tails don't show the orange breast that Red-shoulders have.
© Alex Lamoreaux / Macaulay LibraryPennsylvania, February 10, 2016Similar SpeciesRed-tailed Hawk
Adult (borealis)
Red-tailed Hawks are larger than Red-shouldered Hawks, with broader wings and slower wingbeats. Adult Red-tails usually show a reddish top of the tail, and a dark “belly band” unlike the rusty-bellied Red-shouldered.
© Jonathan Eckerson / Macaulay LibraryMassachusetts, February 18, 2017Similar SpeciesRed-tailed Hawk
Juvenile light morph (calurus/alascensis)
The streaking on juvenile Red-tailed Hawks is often concentrated on the belly and not the chest as it is on juvenile Red-shouldered Hawks.
© Alex Lamoreaux / Macaulay LibraryIdaho, June 08, 2011Similar SpeciesBroad-winged Hawk
Adult light morph
When perched, note the adult Broad-winged Hawk's thickly barred underparts compared to the thin barring on adult Red-shouldered Hawks.
© Dan Vickers / Macaulay LibraryGeorgia, May 23, 2016Similar SpeciesBroad-winged Hawk
Juvenile light morph
Juvenile Broad-winged Hawks usually have less heavily marked underparts than juvenile Red-shouldered Hawks.
© Jay McGowan / Macaulay LibraryNew York, September 01, 2017Similar SpeciesBroad-winged Hawk
Adult light morph
Adult Broad-winged Hawks are generally paler below than adult Red-shouldered Hawks, with less rust color on the belly and inner wing linings.
© David Brown / Macaulay LibraryPennsylvania, September 20, 2016Similar SpeciesBroad-winged Hawk
Juvenile light morph
Broad-winged Hawks are stockier than Red-shouldered and have more pointed wingtips. Broad-winged Hawks also tend to soar with their wings held straight out, whereas Red-shouldered tend to push their wings forward.
© Alex Lamoreaux / Macaulay LibraryTexas, April 20, 2017Similar SpeciesCooper's Hawk
Adult
Adult Cooper's Hawks have a very long, banded tail and a capped look that Red-shouldered Hawks don't have.
© Evan Lipton / Macaulay LibraryRhode Island, February 11, 2017Similar SpeciesCooper's Hawk
Juvenile
Cooper's Hawks look rather slim and straight backed when perched, unlike the hunchbacked and short-tailed look of Red-shouldered Hawks. Juveniles have thinner streaks on the breast than juvenile Red-shouldered Hawks.
© Geoffrey Groom / Macaulay LibraryCalifornia, December 21, 2015Similar SpeciesCooper's Hawk
Adult
Cooper's Hawks have much longer tails, more lanky proportions, and shorter wings than Red-shouldered Hawks.
© Alex Lamoreaux / Macaulay LibraryMinnesota, October 10, 2016Similar SpeciesSharp-shinned Hawk
Adult (Northern)
Adult Sharp-shinned Hawks are gray above (not brown like Red-shouldered Hawks) and lack their red shoulder.
© robert beauchamp / Macaulay LibraryColorado, April 29, 2017Similar SpeciesSharp-shinned Hawk
Immature (Northern)
Sharp-shinned Hawks are smaller and less bulky than Red-shouldered Hawks.
© Sue Barth / Macaulay LibraryNew York, April 14, 2013Similar SpeciesSharp-shinned Hawk
Immature (Northern)
Sharp-shinned Hawks have longer tails and shorter, narrower wings than Red-shouldered Hawks.
© Alix d'Entremont / Macaulay LibraryNova Scotia, September 24, 2014Rotate Your Device to Better Compare
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Species in This Family
Hawks, Eagles, and Kites(Order: Accipitriformes, Family: Accipitridae)
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