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Swainson's Hawk

Buteo swainsoniOrder: FALCONIFORMESFamily: Kites, Eagles and Hawks (Accipitridae)

Swainson's Hawk Portrait
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General

Swainson's Hawk: Large hawk with dark brown upperparts, white throat, rufous upper breast, and pale buff underparts. Tail is gray with faint bars, dark terminal band, and white trailing edge. Rare dark morph has uniformly dark brown upperparts and underparts with white throat patch. Intermediate colorations between light and dark morphs exist, and include a rufous morph. Sexes are similar.

Range and Habitat

Swainson's Hawk: Breeds on the western plains of North America and southwest Canada from Texas to the Yukon. In the winter, most fly south to the pampas of Argentina, a distance of more than 5,000 miles. Preferred habitats include prairies, plains, and other wide-open ranges with minimal tree cover; commonly seen perched on poles or fence posts.

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"kr-e-e-eeeeeer"

Interesting Facts

 The Swainson’s Hawk was first described in 1838 by Charles Bonaparte, French naturalist and ornithologist, and nephew of the Emperor Napoleon. It was named after William Swainson, a British naturalist.

 It is known as the locust hawk, they will eat numerous amounts of these insects and in turn ingest a high amount of toxin, which causes thinning of egg shells.

 Chicks frequently kill and eat the youngest nestlings. The killing of siblings may be related to food availability, but the ultimate cause is unknown.

 A group of hawks has many collective nouns, including a "boil", "knot", "spiraling", "stream", and "tower" of hawks.



Author

Gary Owen Dick

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Range Map for Swainson's Hawk
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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.
Family Hawk (Accipitridae)_blue
Species Buteo swainsoni
Length19 - 20 Inches
Wingspan52 Inches

Swainson's Hawk

Swainson's Hawk: Large hawk, dark brown upperparts, white throat, rufous upper breast, pale buff underparts. Tail is gray with faint bars, dark terminal band, and white trailing edge. Yellow legs, feet. Alternates series of powerful deep wing beats with long glides. Soars on thermals and updrafts.

● Song: "kr-e-e-eeeeeer"

● Foraging & Feeding: Swainson's Hawk: Diet consists of insects, small mammals and birds, and occasional reptiles and amphibians.

● Breeding & nesting: Swainson's Hawk: Lays two to four white to light blue green eggs, marked with light brown, in a nest made of sticks and branches built in a tree, shrub, on the ground, or on top of a utility pole. Both parents incubate eggs for about 30 days.

● Similar species: Swainson's Hawk: Dark morph Rough-legged, Ferruginous, Broad-winged, Short-tailed, and Red-tailed hawks lack pale undertail coverts.

Flight Pattern

Soars on thermals., Alternates series of powerful deep wing beats with long glides.
Swainson's Hawk Body Illustration
● Range & Habitat: Swainson's Hawk: Breeds on the western plains of North America and southwest Canada from Texas to the Yukon. In the winter, most fly south to the pampas of Argentina, a distance of more than 5,000 miles. Preferred habitats include prairies, plains, and other wide-open ranges with minimal tree cover; commonly seen perched on poles or fence posts.
BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester
PopulationVery common to common
MigrationMigratory
Weight32 Ounces