Ferruginous Hawk

Overview
Ferruginous Hawk: Large hawk, white head, streaked, rust-brown shoulders, back, and feathered legs. Underparts have scattered rufous streaks. Gray-brown wings. Tail is white with rust-brown wash. Dark morph is red-brown with white flight feathers. Alternates deep flaps and glides, soars on thermals.

Range and Habitat
Ferruginous Hawk: Found in Canada, south through western and central U.S. to northern Texas. Preferred habitats include lowlands, plateaus, valleys, plains, rolling hills of grasslands, agricultural lands, ranches, and the edges of deserts.

The Ferruginous Hawk was previously rated at Near Threatened. That rating has been downgraded to Least Concern due to the fact that at this current time the population of this bird species is considered to be large and stable. This bird species is native to North America. It tends to winter in southern portions of the continent. The population at this time is thought to be between 6,000 and 14,000 individual birds. While the population is believed to be in decline in certain areas, it is noted as increasing in other parts of the bird's native range.

INTERESTING FACTS
The common name of the Ferruginous Hawk means "rusty color" and refers to the coloration of the bird’s wing and legging feathers. They nest in trees and on the ground. For some unknown reason, tree nests tend to have a greater number of eggs per clutch than ground nests. Before the elimination of bison in the West, their nests were often partially constructed of bison bones and wool. A group of hawks has many collective nouns, including a "boil", "knot", "spiraling", "stream", and "tower" of hawks.