Swainson's Hawk

Young Swainson's Hawks George W. Robinson
© 1999 California Academy of Sciences more information

Scientific name: Buteo swainsoni

STATUS California Threatened and Federal Species of Concern

Description: The males and females look a lot alike. The Swainson's hawk has a short, curved dark beak. The Swainson's hawk looks a lot like a red-tailed hawk.

Size: The body is about 19-20 inches The wingspan is about 49 inches

Swainson's Hawks have two phases to their lives, one phase is light and one phase is dark. During the light phase (it is called a morph), they have a whitish forehead and white patch on the throat below the bill. The rest of the head and upper body parts are dark brown. The belly is white. When flying their wings have dark edges. During the dark phase, or morph, the are all brown except for an area under the tail.

Foods: They often eat grasshoppers, crickets. They can even catch gophers and other small rodents. The Swainson's hawk catches them by perching on top of hillocks right in front of a burrow and they just wait until they pop there head up and then they strike their prey.

Map of the migration of the Swainson's Hawk http://www.swainsonshawk.org/Migrationmaps.html

Here are some pictures: http://www.delta.dfg.ca.gov/gallery/swainson.html