Rough-legged hawk Buteo lagopus
Identification Tips:
Length: 19 inches Wingspan: 52 inches
Large buteo
Long, broad, rounded wings
Hooked beak
Broad tail
Yellow legs and cere
Sometimes hovers in flight
Wings held in slight dihedral ...
Rough-legged Hawk
Relatives in same Genus
White-tailed Hawk (B. albicaudatus)
Short-tailed Hawk (B. brachyurus)
Red-tailed Hawk (B. jamaicensis)
Red-shouldered Hawk (B. lineatus)
Gray Hawk (B. nitidus)
Ferruginous Hawk (B. regalis) ...
Rough-legged Hawk
Buteo lagopus
The Rough-legged Hawk (Buteo lagopus) is a widespread and powerful hawk of North America.
Rough-legged Hawks are rare migrant vistors to the Weaselhead/Glenmore Park area. Look for them on rare occasions primarily during October and November. However, they are also reported (very rarely) during spring migration.
The Rough-legged Hawk is so named because of the feathering that extends down the legs to the base of the toes, an adaptation to the cold environments this species prefers.
Rough-legged Hawk
(Buteo lagopus)
Status: Winter Resident.
Last recorded on site in 2011
The Patuxent web-site provides more general information about this species.
Rough-legged Hawk
Buteo lagopus (Pontoppidan)
Status Uncommon in winter, very rare in summer.
Rough-legged Hawk
Light morph
Similar to lighter plumages of Red-tailed Hawk
Dark belly, pale chest with dark streaking
Pale head
Dark tail with white base
Dark back with limited white mottling
© Ronaldok, Alberta, Canada, January 2009 ...
Rough-legged Hawk is a different matter entirely. It's a tundra breeder, associated with ice and snow and found at high latitudes across the Northern Hemisphere.
Rough-legged hawks inhabit open country and agricultural lands. They are more common in open, early successional areas in which they can soar and seek prey in grasslands and shrublands.
Rough-legged Hawk, Kamchatka Shaggy-legged Buzzard (kamtschatkensis), Siberian Shaggy-legged Buzzard (menzbieri), Roughleg, Black Hawk, Mouse Hawk, Rough-Leg, Squalling Hawk
Bird Family : ...
Rough-legged Hawk - 1 dark adult at Pease just before dusk
Purple Sandpiper - 60+ at various points along the coast
Iceland Gull - 1 1st winter in Rye Harbor, 1 1st winter at Pulpit Rocks ...
Rough-legged Hawk Buteo lagopus. Rare in winter and rare to occasional in spring primarily in the Tennessee Valley region. Found in grasslands and open cultivated areas. MODERATE CONSERVATION CONCERN.
Rough-legged Hawk
Winter Sighting Information: rare
Nest on or near Refuge? no
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Winter Sighting Information: uncommon
Nest on or near Refuge? no ...
Rough-legged hawks, gyrfalcons, and common ravens utilize similar nesting sites and may compete with peregrine falcons for this resource [189,199]. Some peregrine falcon nest sites were previously used by gyrfalcons [116].
The Rough-legged Hawk seldom goes farther south along our Atlantic coast than the eastern portions of North Carolina, nor have I ever seen it to the west of the Alleghanies.
Page 5: Rough-legged Hawk, Mountain Bluebird (March 2007), Northern Shrike (Feb 2007), Saw-Whet Owl (March 2007), Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher(Feb 2007), American Redstart, Clay-colored Sparrow, Sage Sparrow (April 2007).
Photos by Andrew Mascarenhas ...
[15] Other competitors include other large buteos such as Swainson's Hawks and Rough-legged Hawks as well as the Northern Goshawk, since prey and foraging methods of these species occasionally overlap.
Known in North America as a Rough-legged Hawk, it is similar in appearance and size to a Red-tailed Hawk.
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Rough-legged hawks and merlins abandon their northern homes in winter. In contrast, some animals cannot endure the heat of summer, and they escape by migrating a handful of miles out of a valley and up into the mountains.
Short-eared owls' enemies include great-horned owls and rough-legged hawks. Badgers and gulls will rob nests of eggs.
Habitat and range ...
The smallest hawks, such as the sparrow hawk, are about the size of a robin while the rough-legged hawk, one of the largest hawks, has a length of 22 inches and a wingspan of over 55 inches. Female hawks are almost always larger than males.
Osprey (Pandion haliaetus)
Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus)
Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis)
Rough-legged Hawk (Buteo lagopus)
Sharp-shinned Hawk (Accipiter striatus)
Swallow-tailed Kite (Elanoides forficatus) ...
 See also: Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Sparrow, Eagle, Perch
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