Fluffed Up Adult Red-shouldered Hawk

I was more than delighted to have a fluffed-up adult Red-shouldered Hawk in my viewfinder last week while I was at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma.

Fluffed up adult Red-shouldered Hawk in a bottomland hardwood forest – Canon R7, beanbag, f8, 1/800, ISO 1250, Canon EF 100-400mm II at 400mm, natural light

I always think of Red-shouldered Hawks as forest hawks because that’s typically where I find them, whether I’m in Virginia, Florida, Oklahoma, Arkansas, or anywhere else in their range. If they needed another common name, that is what I would call them. Forest Hawks.

I see adult Red-shouldered Hawks at the refuge regularly, but usually they’re too far away or too skittish. Now, because I know this buteo species well, I’m confident that if I could find young Red-shouldered Hawks, I could get closer to them than I can to the adults.

Why do I say that? Because I’ve had young Red-shouldered Hawks fly just over my head, close enough to feel the wind from their wings. I’ve also had them land so near that I could have reached out and touched them.

The young of this species strike me as fearless. Some might say I’m anthropomorphizing when I use that description, but based on my experiences, fearless is the word that fits.

Oh, and young Red-shouldered Hawks are very, very vocal. I’d know exactly where they are just by following their calls.

This adult Red-shouldered Hawk roused their feathers, allowed me to take a few photos, then promptly took flight to the other side of this massive tree. By tucking themselves away, I couldn’t take any more photos of this woodland bird.

I’m grateful that I had him or her in my viewfinder for as long as I did. What a gift.

Life is good.

Mia

Click here to see more of my Red-shouldered Hawk photos plus facts and information about this species.