red-shouldered or broad-winged hawk?

most of the hawks I see down here are red-shouldered. in post I noticed this one's plumage is colored a bit differently- not as barred. could it be a broad-winged?

My book says Sharp Shinned hawk, but I may possibly be the worst bird ID guy on the planet. I looked at my "big book o' pictures o' birds" and Sibley, and they both point to Sharp Shinned. I am sure someone will correct me if I am wrong. I hope so anyway. Either way, great captures!

Beautiful shots. My vote is sharp-shinned.

Great shots. Good question. This is certainly not a sharp-shinned, as others have suggested. I had to go back and forth between red-shouldered and broad-winged. I think it is a red-shouldered...perhaps an immature bird starting to acquire some adult plumage. The tail looks longer than a broad-winged, and I see black-and-white barring in the primaries (never barred in broad-winged). We'll await some more opinions!

Some RSHs down here have a slightly lighter plumage than is typical of these birds. (I see one like this at Turner Road a lot.) However, I don't see the reddish feathers on the wings that give these hawks their name. Might be a youngster as it looks like an RSH otherwise. Beautiful shots.

Great shot

It is not a juvenile Sharp-shinned Hawk. The Sharp-shinned Hawk is a member of the Genus Accipiter. The family that includes the Sharp-shinned Hawk, Cooper's Hawk, and Northern Goshawk. These three species are unique in that they all share yellow eyes as immatures. This bird in the above photographs is an immature, but has brown eyes. Which means that is in the Genus Buteo (the Latin name for buzzard). This genus includes the larger hawks like Red-shouldered Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Swainson's Hawk, Rough-legged, and Ferruginous Hawk (North American species). But also includes many, many more Old World buzzards and African species.

An immature Broad-winged is very similar to an immature Red-shouldered. But the difference is that a Broad-winged has much thicker banding on the tail, and the banding tends to stay horizontal to the tail. Comparing that to this image, this bird has thinner banding and at more of a diagonal banding pattern to the tail. On top of that, a Broad-winged has a whiter chest with tear dropped shaped markings instead of the triangle/diamond shaped ones of a Red-shouldered. They will also have a stockier appearance than a Red-shouldered.

Time of year is also a good factor to go off of. Red-shouldered Hawks live year round in the states, but Broad-winged Hawks only live there during breeding season (summer) before migrating to Central America for winter. Most Broad-winged Hawks should have moved out of the states by now. Of course, Florida is a major migration route for the Broad-winged Hawk and a few birds could easily winter over. However, this bird is a Red-shouldered Hawk.

hope this helps

Beautiful shots and great gentle light.

If you have raws, could do with the colour temperature up a little I think.

Great captures and well done.

Thank you all for your helpful comments- thank you Evan for the detailed lesson on raptors- very interesting. Great tip on time of year habits- I learn something new here nearly every time I visit

Thank you Evan for the thoughtful and detailed clarification! I knew someone would set me straight!

Nice captures sounds like Evan has you pointed in the right direction.

Nice shots.

nice capture looks to me like an elder Red Shoulder Hawk they keep their breast color and get darker wings and shoulders as they mature.. the yellow banding give the true identifier Blocked and striped tail ...

Nice capture