As with all birds of prey, the female ferruginous hawk is larger than the male, but there is some overlap between small females and large males in the range of measurements. The weight of the upland buzzard and ferruginous broadly overlaps and which of these two species is the heaviest in the genus is debatable. hemilasius) of Asia averages larger in length and wingspan. Among all the nearly thirty species of Buteo in the world, only the upland buzzard ( B. This is the largest of the North American Buteos and is often mistaken for an eagle due to its size, proportions, and behavior. It is used as a falconry bird in its native ranges.ĭescription Dark-morph bird on nest Light-morph in captivity This species is a large, broad-winged hawk of the open, arid grasslands, prairie and shrub steppe country it is endemic to the interior parts of North America. The common name 'ferruginous' means 'rust-colored' or 'reddish-brown'. The specific epithet regalis is Latin for 'royal' (from rex, regis, 'king'). The generic name buteo is Latin for 'buzzard'. An old colloquial name is ferrugineous rough-leg, due to its similarity to the closely related rough-legged hawk ( B. It was banded in 1986 in California, then recaptured and rereleased during banding operations, also in California, in 2012.The ferruginous hawk, ( Buteo regalis), is a large bird of prey and belongs to the broad-winged buteo hawks. The oldest known Swainson’s Hawk was at least 26 years, 1 month old. Their daytime migrations create a much-anticipated spectacle for birders who in fall and spring form their own flocks at well-known migratory points in the southern U.S., Mexico, and Central America to watch the birds stream by. Groups of soaring or migrating hawks are called “kettles.” When it comes to forming kettles, Swainson’s Hawks are overachievers: they form flocks numbering in the tens of thousands, often mixing with Turkey Vultures, Broad-winged Hawks, and Mississippi Kites to create a virtual river of migrating birds.But when they’re not breeding, the adults switch to a diet made up almost exclusively of insects, especially grasshoppers and dragonflies. Swainson’s Hawk feed their chicks the usual “three r’s” of the North American buteo diet: rodents, rabbits, and reptiles.A nephew of Emperor Napoleon eventually corrected the error: in 1832, while working in Philadelphia, French biologist Charles Lucien Bonaparte identified the hawk as a new species and named it after the original illustrator-although he based his own description on a drawing by John James Audubon. The Swainson’s Hawk initially suffered from a case of mistaken identity, when a specimen collected in Canada in 1827 and illustrated by William Swainson was confused with the common buzzard ( Buteo buteo) of Europe.You can also see fairly large numbers in spring at the Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge hawkwatch in south Texas. At a few select migration spots including Hazel Bazemore Park (Corpus Christi, Texas) and a few sites in Middle America (Veracruz, Mexico Kèköldie, Costa Rica and Panama City, Panama) you can reliably see very large numbers of them passing south in fall. If these are not Turkey Vultures, they are almost certainly Swainson's Hawks. Instead, look for large flocks of soaring raptors over open country within their range, especially in April and September. During migration, they don’t move along ridgelines or lakeshores nearly as much as do other raptors. No other buteo species can be found in large numbers in such situations. In perch-deprived areas, look for them standing on the ground in grassland or tilled agricultural fields. They are perch conspicuously on utility poles, fence posts, and isolated trees in areas that otherwise lack such elevated perches. Your best bet for finding Swainson’s Hawks is during summer in open country west of the Mississippi River.
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