FERRUGINOUS HAWKS

Buteo Regalis

ORDER: Accipitriformes

FAMILY: Accipitridae

Named in 1884, the inspiration came from its colours. Ferruginous refers to something relating to or containing rust; resembling iron rust in colour. There are two variations of the Ferruginous Hawk colouring; in the wild the majority of the population is a light morph, sporting light coloured underbellies and rusty legs. There is however a rare small percentage of the population that is deemed dark morph, which is the case of Apollo and Santana. These lovelies mostly have a deep chocolate colour, with lighter tones in the tail feathers (train feathers) and at the bases of their primary flight feathers, forming white panels in the outer wing.

ABOUT

THE HAWKS

In Canada, the Ferruginous Hawk can be found in the grass lands of Alberta and Saskatchewan. In the United States their territory spans from the North West all the way to New Mexico; they can migrate as far as Central America during the winter season.

Ferruginous Hawks have a diet of small mammals, hares, rabbits, squirrels and prairie dogs. Their diet occasionally includes birds, reptiles and amphibians. They hunt during all hours of the day and are not known for hunting in groups.

Ferruginous Hawks are infamous for having large clutch sizes, up to eight eyas (young bird unable to leave the nest). They have a 32-33 day incubation period followed by a 38-50 day nesting period of the clutch.

During mating season, both the male and female pick a nest sight. Sights vary from elevations of up to almost 20 meters off the ground all the way down to ground level. Ground level nests are slopes or hill crests; nests above ground are generally built on the remains of other species’ nests. They also use locations of opportunity to build their nests such as oil and gas structures, transmission towers and even haystacks.

The pair builds the nest together, the male supplies most of the building material and the female does most of the construction of the nest. The nests may be up to 1.5 meters in diameter and 1 meter in height, they are built from material from the area ranging from tree bark stripped from trees, animal bones and even scrap metal. Before the elimination of the Bison, Ferruginous Hawk nests were often constructed of the bones and wool of bison.

In recent years the Ferruginous Hawk populations have been declining, the most rapid decline has taken place in Canada resulting in the species being Federally listed as Threatened in 2010.

Here at Freedom Falconry we strive to preserve this magnificent creature and educate all those that are willing to listen.

An imposing creature with a 1.5m wing span, the Ferruginous Hawk has been referred to throughout history as the “splendid hawk”; it is the largest and most powerful of all the hawks, a true regal and majestic presence.

Image originally posted by: Faraz Haider.