Ferruginous Hawk - Buteo regalis

Description

• Brown above with rusty streaks, white below with rusty streaks

Size

• Length: 20-26 in. (50-66 cm)
• Wingspan: 53-60 in. (134-152 cm)
• Weight: 2.2-4.5 lbs (980-2030 g)

Range

• North American plains
• Plains and dry mesas
• Great Basin East to Western Great Plains, north to Canadian Praries, south to Arizona and New Mexico
• In winter it moves further south into the south western United States and northern Mexico
• Those further north tend to move south during the first half of October, returning in late March or early April
• When migrating the birds rarely flock, but remain in pairs or small groups

Diet

• Rabbits, hares and other small mamals
• Locusts or Jerusalem crickets when swarming
• Occasionally small snakes

Voice

• Main call is described as a loud "kree-a"
• Also makes a harsh cry rather like one of the notes of a herring gull's call

Nesting

• Mass of sticks, twigs, bones lined with cow or horse feces in a tree or on a cliff
• Uses the highest available, but frequently almost at ground level
• Same nest is used, and added to, year on year and can grow to the size of a Golden Eagle's nest, 12 to 15 feet (360 to 460 cms) in height
• Lay 2-6 white or bluish eggs heavily spotted brown
• Eggs incubate for 28 days and are tended by both parents
• Fledgelings leave the nest at 44-48 days after hatching

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