Red-shouldered buzzard
| Red-shouldered buzzard | ||||||||||
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Red-shouldered buzzard ( Buteo l. Lineatus ), adult |
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| Buteo lineatus | ||||||||||
| ( Gmelin , 1788) |
The red-shouldered buzzard ( Buteo lineatus ) is a member of the real buzzards ( genus Buteo ) from the hawk family (Accipitridae). It occurs in North America .
description
The red-shouldered buzzard is 38 to 48 centimeters long and has a wingspan of 94 to 107 centimeters. It is a medium-sized, slender buzzard and has a comparatively long tail and long legs. In flight, sickle-shaped yellowish markings can be seen in the basal area of the outer hand wings.
The flight of the subspecies B. l. elegans is reminiscent of the representatives of the genus Accipiter , e.g. B. on the hawk , with fast wing beats followed by a gliding phase with curved wings. The subspecies B. l. lineatus , however, flies more like the broad-winged buzzard with slower wing beats. The red-shouldered buzzard sails with its wings flat and does not shake .
Adult birds
In adult red-shouldered buzzards, the shoulders and the small wing-coverts are reddish, the upper side is spotted with intense white. The tail is black and has four white transverse bands and a thin white terminal band. The iris is brown.
Fledglings
The plumage of the juvenile red-shouldered buzzards can come in different colors . Fledglings of the subspecies B. l. lineatus are clearly more thinly striped on the chest and resemble the broad-winged buzzard. The other, eastern subspecies have a coarser mark on the underside. Fledglings of the subspecies B. l. elegans are relatively dark and resemble adult birds with their brownish shoulders and white spots on top. The tail has many brown cross bars, the iris is light gray.
Vocalizations
The call is a clear, high-pitched "kii-ah" or "kah" and occurs at regular intervals.
distribution
The red-shouldered buzzard occurs in eastern North America from southern Canada to Mexico and in a narrow strip on the west coast of California and on the Baja California , the peninsula in northern Mexico.
habitat
The red-shouldered buzzard lives in damp mixed forests, often near bodies of water, in the west also in drier forests. It occurs up to an altitude of 1000 meters, during migration and in winter also up to 2500 meters. In Québec he prefers the American beech and the sugar maple as a nest tree.
hikes
The red-shouldered buzzard is a partial migrant . Individuals from Canada and New England winter in the USA below 40 ° N. Some individuals overwinter in the Maryland transit area , most of the transit here takes place from early March to early April and from late September to mid-November. Red-shouldered buzzards seldom fly over seas during their migration.
Systematics
There are five subspecies of the red-shouldered buzzard:
- B. l. lineatus - the nominate form , is widespread in eastern North America from southeastern Canada to southern Missouri and South Carolina and has dark stripes on the red chest.
- B. l. alleni - is common in eastern Oklahoma and east Texas to southern South Carolina and Florida ; it is smaller than the nominate form and has a gray tinge on the head and back, the dark stripes on the chest are mostly missing.
- B. l. extimus - found in central and southern Florida and is the smallest and lightest subspecies.
- B. l. elegans - found from southwest Oregon to Baja California and looks similar to the following subspecies.
- B. l. texanus - occurs in southern Texas and is significantly more brownish on the underside than the nominate form.
literature
- Field Guide to the birds of North America. 4th fully rev. and updated Ed., National Geographic Society, 2002. ISBN 0-7922-6877-6
- Stanley Cramp , KEL Simmons (Ed.): The Birds of the Western Palearctic, Vol. II Hawks to Bustards. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1980, ISBN 0-19-857505-X .
- J. Ferguson-Lees, DA Christie: Raptors of the World. Princeton University Press / Christopher Helm, London 2005. ISBN 0-691-12684-4
Individual evidence
- ↑ MMJ Morris, BL Penak, RE Lemon, DM Bird (1982): Characteristics of Red-Shouldered Hawk Buteo lineatus Nest Sites in Southwestern Quebec. Canadian Field - Naturalist 96, Issue 2: pp. 139–142 [1] ( Page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ LH Brown, D. Amadon, (1968): Eagles, hawks and falcons of the world. Feltham.
- ^ WE Godfrey (1966): The Birds of Canada. Ottawa.
- ^ RE Stewart, CS Robbins (1958): Birds of Maryland and the District of Columbia. North Amer. Fauna 62, Washington.
Web links
- Buteo lineatus in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2008. Posted by: BirdLife International, 2008. Accessed January 31 of 2009.