Buteo lineatus
Silhouette: Andy Wilson · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~70% in a week ~90%
The red-shouldered hawk (Buteo lineatus) is a medium-sized buteo. Its breeding range spans eastern North America, along the coast of California and northern to northeastern-central Mexico. It is a permanent resident throughout most of its range, though northern birds do migrate, mostly to central Mexico. The main conservation threat to the widespread species is deforestation.
The red-shouldered hawk was formally described in 1788 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. He placed it with the eagles, hawks and relatives in the genus Falco and coined the binomial name Falco lineatus. Gmelin based his account on the "barred-breasted buzzard" of John Latham and the "red shouldered falcon" of Thomas Pennant. Latham had described a preserved specimen from North America in the Leverian collection while Pennant's specimen formed part of the collection of Anna Blackburne and had come from Long Island. The red-shouldered hawk is now placed with 27 other species in the genus Buteo that was introduced in 1799 by Bernard Germain de Lacépède.
The genus name Buteo is Latin for a "buzzard". The specific... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Big Cypress National Preserve | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Everglades National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Congaree National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Great Smoky Mountains National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Shenandoah National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Yosemite National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Redwood National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | Death Valley National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 11 | Channel Islands National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 12 | Point Pelee National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 13 | Cumbres de Monterrey National Park | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 14 | El Vizcaíno Biosphere Reserve | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 15 | Acadia National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 16 | Big Bend National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Orlando | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Sacramento | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | San Antonio | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Austin | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Washington | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Houston | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Tijuana | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 8 | San Francisco | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | San Diego | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | Los Angeles | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ecomuseum Zoo | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 2 | World Bird Sanctuary | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Birmingham Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Staten Island Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Trevor Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Ralph Perkins II Wildlife Center and Woods Garden | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Texas State Aquarium | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Lindsay Wildlife Experience | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Belle Isle Nature Center | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 10 | Carolina Raptor Center | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 11 | Cascades Raptor Center | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 12 | Chouette à voir! | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 13 | Maymont Farm | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 14 | Museum of Life and Science | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 15 | Seaside Seabird Sanctuary | 🇺🇸 United States |
Possible
About 30% of wildlife watchers report a Red-shouldered Hawk sighting in Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge on a given day, based on 3,895 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 41st most-seen of the 279 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 70%, and over a week to about 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
September
In that month about 50% of wildlife watchers report a Red-shouldered Hawk in Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge on a given day, against about 10% in July, the lowest month. That is one of Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge's wettest months, with about 210 mm of rain against 50 mm in March.
Between 5 and 8 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Red-shouldered Hawk sightings with a recorded time, and about 7 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
4th of 16
Of the 16 parks where we can rate Red-shouldered Hawk sightings, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge ranks 4th at about 30%. The best odds are in Big Cypress National Preserve (United States, about 70%), Everglades National Park (United States, about 60%) and Congaree National Park (United States, about 50%). All parks ranked.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Red-shouldered Hawk is recorded against all the birds logged in Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge (3,895 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
