Home > Illustration > Wildlife > Birds > Birds of Prey > Red-Shouldered Hawk

Red-Shouldered Hawk

Red-Shouldered Hawk line art illustration (click image to enlarge)

Red-Shouldered Hawk full color illustration (click image to enlarge)

Artist's notes:

The Red-Shouldered Hawk was completed on 10.17.2010. When drawing a bird of prey - or any bird for that matter - it's a critical decision in the composition whether to show the bird in flight or perched. With hawks - which at this time I've drawn seven now - I try to balance them out half and half. When deciding to drawing the Red-Shouldered Hawk, I decided on a perched pose. The drawing is based on a photo by Frank Shufelt.

Information about the Red-Shouldered Hawk:

The Red-Shouldered Hawk is a medium-sized member of the Buteo genus. Males of the species are about 17 to 23 inches long, (43 to 58 cm), weigh about 1.2 pounds (550 g) with a wingspan of 38 inches (96 cm). They can be found in the eastern part of North America, as well as the coastline of California. Their habitats of this hawk are usually mixed woodlands, not far from open water, clearings and rivers. Like other members of the Buteo family, this birds shows a high adaptability to human-altered habitats, including urban areass  and even cities, where they can occasionally be seen flying overhead in residential neighborhoods. Red-Shouldered Hawks feed on small lizards and snakes, other birds, rodent and other small mammals.