Ferruginous Hawk

Ferruginous Hawk

The Ferruginous Hawk is the largest of the North American buteos, a bird of open arid grasslands, shrub-steppe, and prairie in the western and central United States and southern Canada. Its rich rufous upperparts and distinctively pale, feathered legs give it a striking appearance among open-country raptors.

Its large size and broad wings suit a life of soaring and hunting over vast, treeless landscapes, and its feathers reflect the paler, warmer tones typical of birds adapted to bright, open arid habitats.

Identifying Ferruginous Hawk Feathers

• Back/shoulder feathers: rich rufous-brown ('ferruginous'), among the warmest-toned feathers of any regional buteo.
• Leg feathers: unusually, the legs are feathered down to the toes with pale, often rufous-washed feathers, a trait shared with only a few other raptors in its range and useful for identification.
• Tail feathers: pale grey-white to pale rufous, often with only faint banding, notably paler than the tails of Red-tailed or Swainson's Hawks.
• Body feathers: underparts are pale, whitish to buffy, sometimes with rufous markings on the flanks and legs in light-morph birds; dark-morph birds show much darker overall body feathers.
• The combination of rufous back feathers, pale legs and tail feathers, and overall large size for a buteo help separate this species from other regional hawks.

Plumage

Light-morph adults, the more common form, show rufous upperparts and leg feathers, a pale head, and whitish underparts, with a pale tail. Dark-morph individuals are much darker overall, largely rich chocolate-brown, though even these often retain paler flight feathers. Juveniles are browner above with less rufous tone, developing full adult coloring over a couple of years. Sexes look alike, with females larger.

Habitat & Range

Breeds across open arid grassland, shrub-steppe, and prairie of the western and central United States and southern Canada, generally avoiding wooded or mountainous terrain. Many populations migrate south to the southwestern United States and Mexico for winter, though some remain resident where prey is available year-round.

Behavior & Field Notes

Ferruginous Hawks hunt over open ground for ground squirrels, prairie dogs, and other small mammals, often from elevated perches or low quartering flight. They frequently nest on the ground, on rock outcrops, or in isolated trees where available, unusual among large buteos. A large rufous-toned body or shoulder feather, or a pale, lightly marked tail feather, found in open arid grassland is a good indicator of this species.