Poss. Red-shouldered Hawk

[Mark]

This was this Sunday morning 26 May 19, at about 7:30 a.m. at Lackland AFB here in San Antonio. Again, at first I thought Red-shouldered until I got the pics downloaded. The banded tail seems to look like red-shouldered, but the head doesn't present the same as the other red-shouldered hawks I have seen on Lackland. Could be an immature?

[Mark5]

I would say the tail pattern indicates Red-shouldered. 

I will also say I have very limited experience with this species so hopefully someone with else might chime in here.

[Creeker]

I see them almost daily.? This one has a lighter colored head but otherwise looks average.  Looks like a mature bird to me.

[Featherstone]

Definitely a Red-shoulder! The checkerboard pattern on the back as well as the few, thin white bands on the tail are both good indicators. I agree that it looks like a mature bird but it can be hard to tell sometimes with Red-shoulders. There can be a lot of variation with the heads, though, and sometimes you get ones that are really shockingly pale. Just a bit of an outlier.

[Sean C]

Yup, RSHA

[Mark]

Thanks folks. Much appreciated. I was still thinking Red-shouldered myself, but just wanted to get confirmation because of the paler appearance of the head.