Red-shouldered Hawk
(Buteo lineatus)

Overview

Summary

© John Reaume
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The Red-shouldered Hawk is a very uncommon inhabitant of south-central Canada, occurring primarily in southern Ontario, with smaller populations in southern Quebec and southwestern New Brunswick. Based on the Canadian Breeding Bird Survey and Christmas Bird Count results, this species has shown little overall change in population since about 1970. Threats on the breeding and non-breeding grounds currently appear to be minimal. In 2006, the Red-shouldered Hawk was re-assessed by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada and down-listed from Special Concern to Not At Risk based on its stable or increasing populations in both Canada and the United States (COSEWIC 2006e). This species has been identified as a priority for conservation and/or stewardship in one or more Bird Conservation Region Strategies in Canada.

Designations

Population status

Population estimate

Distribution maps

• BirdLife International / NatureServe
• Breeding Bird Survey (BBS): Relative Abundance and Breeding Distribution (1993-2012)

Migration strategy, occurrence

Responsibility for conservation of world population

Conservation and management

Historically one of the most common hawks in eastern North America, populations decreased significantly during the 1900s, probably due to loss of large expanses of mature bottomland and riparian forest. The species appears to be susceptible to fragmentation and opening of forest habitat (Dykstra et al. 2008). However, improved forest management practices, together with the stable availability of preferred hardwood forest, have benefitted the species (Badzinski 2007). The species may also benefit from recent succession of agricultural land to forest in parts of its Ontario range (Dykstra et al. 2008). Recent population stabilization and increases in some areas (Badzinski 2007a) have resulted in re-assessment as Not at Risk by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC 2006e).

Bird conservation region strategies

Environment and Climate Change Canada and partners have developed Bird Conservation Region Strategies in each of Canada’s Bird Conservation Regions (BCRs). In these strategies, selected species are identified as priorities for one or more of the following reasons:

• conservation concerns (i.e., species vulnerable due to population size, distribution, population trend, abundance, or threats)
• stewardship responsibilities (i.e., species that typify the regional avifauna or have a large proportion of their range or population in the sub-region)
• management concerns (i.e., species that require ongoing management because of their socio-economic importance as game species, or because of their impacts on other species or habitats)
• other concerns (i.e., species deemed a priority by regional experts for other reasons than those listed above or because they are listed as species at risk or concern at the provincial level)

Select any of the sub-regions below to view the BCR strategy for additional details.

References

• Badzinski, D. 2007. Red-shouldered Hawk and Spring Woodpecker Survey 1990-2006. Final Report for Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources. Bird Studies Canada, Port Rowan, Ontario. 33 pp.
• Badzinski, D. 2007a. Red-shouldered Hawk. pp. 180-181 in: Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Ontario, 2001-2005. Cadman, M.D., D.A. Sutherland, G.G. Beck, D. Lepage and A.R. Couturier, Eds. Bird Studies Canada, Environment Canada, Ontario Field Ornithologists, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, and Ontario Nature, Toronto, Ontario.
• COSEWIC. 2006e. COSEWIC Assessment and Update Status Report on the Red-shouldered Hawk Buteo lineatus in Canada. Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. Ottawa. vi + 27 pp. COSEWIC. 2006e. COSEWIC Assessment and Update Status Report on the Red-shouldered Hawk Buteo lineatus in Canada. Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. Ottawa. vi + 27 pp. (Link)
• Dykstra, C.R., J.L. Hays and S.T. Crocoll. 2008. Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus), The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole Ed.). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Dykstra, C.R., J.L. Hays and S.T. Crocoll. 2008. Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus), The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole Ed.). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. (Link)