Bird name:

Rough-legged Hawk

Buteo lagopus

Order

FALCONIFORMES

Family

Kites, Eagles and Hawks (Accipitridae)

Code 4

RLHA

Code 6

BUTLAG

ITIS

175373

Breeding Location:

Open landscapes, Grassland with scattered trees, Marshes, freshwater

Breeding Type:

Monogamous

Breeding Population:

Common in range, Uncommon on wintering grounds

Egg Color:

White with brown streaks or blotches

Number of Eggs:

2 - 3

Incubation Days:

28 - 31

Egg Incubator:

Female

Nest Material:

24 - 30 inches in diameter.

Migration:

Migratory

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General

Rough-legged Hawk: Large hawk with brown upperparts, paler, streaked head, brown-spotted white breast, and dark breast band. Legs are fully feathered. Wings are mostly pale below and dark-edged. Upper half of tail is white, lower half is finely banded. Uncommon dark phase is brown-black overall. Female and juvenile are more olive-brown with dark belly bands and single, thick terminal tail bands.

Range and Habitat

Rough-legged Hawk: Breeds in northern Canada. Spends winters in southern Canada and northern U.S. Prefers open country, upland tundra, plains, and marshes.

Breeding and Nesting

Rough-legged Hawk: Lays two to three white eggs with brown streaks or blotches in a nest made of sticks, lined with moss, and built on a cliff. Eggs are incubated for 31 days mostly by the female.

Foraging and Feeding

Rough-legged Hawk: Hunts mostly small mammals, especially lemmings during the summer; also takes birds or eats carrion.

Vocalization

Rough-legged Hawk: Usually silent, but makes mewing squeals near nest; also makes a thin, downward-slurred whistle.

Similar Species

Rough-legged Hawk: Northern Harrier has thinner wings and lacks white on tail. Harlan's Hawk has more mottling on underparts and has a whiter uppertail surface.

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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.

Upperparts

Back, rump, hindneck, wings, and crown.

Belly

The ventral part of the bird, or the area between the flanks on each side and the crissum and breast. Flight muscles are located between the belly and the breast.

Breast

The upper front part of a bird.

4 and 6 letter alpha codes

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

Field Guide to Birds of North America