How to Identify aFerruginous Hawk
Buteo regalis · 22.1–27.2 in (56–69 cm)
Male vs. female
Male
Rusty-brown above, gleaming white below, with rufous leg feathers making a V, and a pale unbanded tail. Sexes look alike.
Female
Identical in pattern but larger.
Male photo: Andeansolitaire / Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Second photo: Buteo_regalis_-California_-flying-8.jpg: Alan Vernon derivative work: Snowmanradio (talk) / Wikimedia, CC BY 2.0
Field marks
- Very large, broad-winged and pale
- Rusty leg feathers forming a dark V on a white belly
- Huge gape extending back beneath the eye
- Pale tail washed rust and gray, without dark bands
Similar species
What it sounds like
A harsh descending "kree-a", given infrequently.
Behaviour that gives it away
Hunts prairie dogs and ground squirrels, often waiting on the ground beside a burrow rather than from a perch.
Habitat & range
Open prairie, sagebrush and desert grassland in the western interior.
When you'll see it
Depending on where in western, central and southwestern North America you are, it is present all year and a winter visitor.
What it eats
Prairie dogs, ground squirrels, rabbits and other small mammals.
Did you know?
Historically it built nests from bison bones and wool where trees were absent, and still nests on the ground on open prairie.
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