Red-Shouldered Hawk

I did a post on the red-shouldered hawk on February 6, 2014 shortly after seeing my first one in Everglades NP in Florida. It was about seven years later, in 2021, I was surprised to see my next one, virtually in my back-yard, early one morning in Live Oak Canyon. I had no idea they were found in California.

Later that year, I saw another one standing on the roof of my neighbor's house.

Early the next year, on January 15, 2022, I saw another one in Newport Bay Marine Protected Area.

A few weeks later, on February 5, 2022, I saw another red-shouldered hawk at Whittier Narrows in Los Angeles.

Subsequently, I've begun to see them more and more frequently in my neighborhood in Redlands. Earlier this year we had what I'm sure was a nesting pair which we saw almost daily on our morning walk. In fact, I've been seeing more red-shouldered hawks than red-tailed hawks, the most common hawk we used to see. Just recently, while visiting Sam in northern California, I got photos of a red-shouldered hawk flying in Somona Valley Regional Park. They are beautiful underneath.

There are four or five subspecies. I saw ssp. extimus in southern Florida. I've been seeing ssp. elegans in California. 

Illustration of ssp. extimus from Birds of the World. 

Ssp. elegans from Birds of the World.

Range from Birds of the World showing, weirdly, that they are found in California and then much further east.