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Swainson's Hawk

Buteo swainsoniOrder: FALCONIFORMES Family: Kites, Eagles and Hawks (Accipitridae)
Codes: Common Name: SWHA Scientific Name: BUTSWA ITIS Taxonomic No.: 175367
Least Concern
 
Swainson's Hawk
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Overview

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.

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.

Topo Map: Hawk-like Body


Listen to Call

Similar Sounding

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.


Bird Term Glossary



Author

Gary Owen Dick

Artist

Yury Lisyak

Splitbar
Range Map for Swainson's Hawk

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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
Hawk-like BodyX
UnderpartsX
Belly, undertail coverts, chest, flanks, and foreneck.
UpperpartsX
Back, rump, hindneck, wings, and crown.
BreastX
The upper front part of a bird.
Terminal bandX
Refers to the contrasting stripe at the tip of the tail.
4 and 6 letter alpha codesX

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.

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ITIS CodesX

The Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) was established in the mid-1990�s as a cooperative project among several federal agencies to improve and expand upon taxonomic data (known as the NODC Taxonomic Code) maintained by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

To find the ITIS page for a bird species go to the ITIS web site advanced search and report page at http://www.itis.gov/advanced_search.html. You can enter the TSN or the common name of the bird. It will return the ITIS page for that bird. Another way to obtain the ITIS page is to use the Google search engine. Enter the string ITIS followed by the taxonomic ID, for example "ITIS 178041" will return the page for the Allen's Hummingbird.

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Parts of a Standing birdX
Head Feathers and MarkingsX
Parts of a Flying birdX