A classic species of the open country of the Great Plains and the West, Swainson’s Hawks soar on narrow wings or perch on fence posts and irrigation spouts. These elegant gray, white, and brown hawks hunt rodents in flight, wings held in a shallow V, …

Swainson's hawk is a raptor and a medium-sized member of the genus Buteo. It broadly overlaps in size with the red-tailed hawk (B. jamaicensis), a related species found as a breeding resident almost throughout North America.

This slim and graceful hawk is a common sight over grasslands of the Great Plains and the west, but only in summer: every autumn, most individuals migrate to southern South America.

A classic species of the open country of the Great Plains and the West, Swainson’s Hawks soar on narrow wings or perch on fence posts and irrigation spouts. These elegant gray, white, and brown hawks hunt rodents in flight, wings held in a shallow V, …

Swainson's Hawks are polymorphic with pale, light and intermediate morph plumage ranging from dark to light or rufous in color. Most Swainson's Hawks have a sharp contrast between the wing linings and flight feathers.

A classic species of the open country of the Great Plains and the West, Swainson’s Hawks soar on narrow wings or perch on fence posts and irrigation spouts. These elegant gray, white, and brown hawks hunt rodents in flight, wings held in a shallow V, …

Longer-winged than Red-tailed Hawk, but otherwise the same size. Found in prairies and agricultural regions of western U.S. and Canada in warm months. Varies in color from rather pale with white belly to completely brown. Light morph is more common with brown breast band contrasting with white throat and belly.

From late spring through summer, this handsome western buteo is a familiar sight over open country in many parts of the West, soaring overhead on long, bicolored wings. But in fall, this …

Swainson's hawk (Buteo swainsoni) is a large bird of prey named after William Swainson, a British naturalist. It is colloquially known as the Grasshopper hawk or Locust hawk, as it is very fond of locusts and grasshoppers and will voraciously eat these insects whenever they are available.

They are large birds, only slightly smaller than Red-tailed Hawk, but hunt mainly rodents and insects, and also small birds and snakes. Swainson’s Hawks are fairly common breeders across much of their range from northern Mexico to central Canada and west to California.