Ferruginous Hawk

Buteo regalis

Wingspan

120–160cm

Body length

55–70cm

Weight

1,000–1,500g

Profile

Life expectancy
Clutch size: Usually 2–4 eggs
Global status
Activity
Migration
Falconry

Identification

A large buzzard with a broad chest and long wings. In the pale form, the rufous feathered legs are particularly striking. In flight they can form a dark V against the pale belly.

Colours

Plumage

Eyes

Legs & feet

Adult · Pale

White underparts, rufous leg feathering and rusty wing coverts. Tail and flight feathers are pale.

Pale Ferruginous Hawks are common, dark ones rare. Markings and rufous tone also vary within a morph.

Behaviour

It usually lives alone or in pairs. In winter several birds may gather at productive feeding sites. On the ground it moves by walking and hopping; in courtship the male performs rising and falling flights.

Breeding & rearing

The nest site is unusually variable: single trees, rocks, artificial structures and even the ground are possible. Both partners work on the nest. Disturbance during nest building can lead to a new site being chosen.

Diet

Prey examples

Hares

Rabbits

Ground squirrels

The Ferruginous Hawk lives mainly on small mammals of open grasslands. In the west, hares and rabbits are particularly important; east of the Rocky Mountains, ground squirrels and prairie dogs are often the main prey.

Hunting

From a lookout or on the wing it scans open areas for mammals. It also hunts on the ground and sometimes waits outside a rodent burrow.

Distribution

Range

Western North America

Habitat

Prairies, wide grassland and sagebrush steppe in western North America. Also hunts over open farmland.

Vast dry grassland with low hills — Steppes

Open meadows, fields and varied hedgerow landscape — Meadows & fields