A slender medium hawk with dark flight feathers and pale chest.
§ Quick facts
§ Encyclopedia
Swainson's hawk is a large bird species in the Accipitriformes order. This species was named after William Swainson, a British naturalist. It is colloquially known as the grasshopper hawk or locust hawk, as it is very fond of Acrididae and will voraciously eat these insects whenever they are available.
Source: Wikipedia — Swainson's hawk Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
§ Identification
Field marks. Slim, long-winged buteo held in a shallow V (dihedral) in flight; light morph has a brown breast band on white underparts and two-toned underwings (pale linings, dark flight feathers).
Similar species. Red-tailed Hawk has broader wings and a red tail; the Swainson's two-toned underwing and brown bib are distinctive.
Voice. A shrill, drawn-out 'kreeeer', thinner than a Red-tailed Hawk.
§ Diet & behavior
Diet. Small mammals, birds, reptiles, insects depending on species.
Behavior. A slender buteo of open western plains that migrates in enormous flocks ('kettles') to Argentina; on the breeding grounds it often hunts grasshoppers and ground squirrels on foot.
§ Range
Western Great Plains in summer; winters in South America
§ Habitat
Open grasslands
§ Threats
Grassland loss, pesticide drift.
§ Conservation status
According to the IUCN Red List, the swainson's hawk is currently classified as Least Concern.
§ What helps
Support grassland conservation.
§ Further reading
- Wikipedia — Swainson's hawk
- www.allaboutbirds.org — authoritative profile of Buteo swainsoni
- IUCN Red List — search for Buteo swainsoni
- GBIF occurrence records
- Encyclopedia of Life — Buteo swainsoni
§ Sources cited
- Cornell Lab of Ornithology — All About Birds
- National Audubon Society
- iNaturalist
- IUCN Red List
