Please see picture gallery below – if you have any pix please send to sheilaelliot@yahoo.com

March Bird of the Month – Red-shouldered Hawk From Ben Kolstad’s article in the March Kite:

Animals with wide ranges or disjunct ranges can look remarkably different from one of the range to another, or from one population to another. That’s the case with this month’s bird, the Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus). Our south Florida population (B. lineatus extimus) is the palest of all the species. One might imagine that it’s just because it’s in the sun so much it gets the color bleached out of it, but if that were true, why would the California population (B. lineatus elegans) be so richly colored? (And yes, I know it’s often foggy in the central valley where these birds can be found, but it’s also often hotter and sunnier than, well, other places.)

 This hawk is easy to distinguish from another widespread raptor, the red-tailed, by its plumage if you’re close enough, but also by its choice of perch: Bill Pranty points out in his guide to the birds of Florida that “no other raptor makes such frequent use of power lines as perches; indeed, many species, such as the Red-tailed Hawk and the Short-tailed Hawk, never perch on lines.”

This diurnal (active during daylight hours) raptor is one of the most conspicuous birds in the state and can be found almost anywhere, from the Marsh Trail at ARM Loxahatchee NWR to a suburban back yard phone line. During the winter our paler resident birds are joined by their darker cousins from up north. The most obvious way to tell whether you’re looking at a local or a snowbird is to look at the head: dark head = visitor. The bird at right is a local.

Come to our March meeting to hear more about this bird.

(Photographer’s please note that next month’s April 2015 Bird will be the Broad-winged Hawk)