Swainson\'s Hawk
Buteo swainsoni

f4.8 @ 1/1600s, ISO:400, Nikon D300S w 500mm

\"Swainson\'s Hawk,\" Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Swainson\'s hawk is a large Buteo hawk of the Falconiformes. It is colloquially known as the grasshopper hawk or locust hawk, as it is very fond of Acrididae (locusts and grasshoppers) and will voraciously eat these insects whenever they are available. Their breeding habitat is prairie and dry grasslands in western North America. They build a stick nest in a tree or shrub or on a cliff edge. This species is a long-distance migrant, wintering in Argentina; it has been recorded as a vagrant in neighboring Chile, in the island countries of the Dominican Republic, and Trinidad and Tobago, and in Norway. There are two main color variations. Over 90% of individuals are light-morph; the dark morph is most common in the far west of the range: Light-morph adults are white on the underparts with a dark, reddish \"bib\" on the chest and a noticeable white throat and face patch. The underwings, seen as the bird soars, have light linings (leading edge) and dark flight feathers (trailing edge), a pattern unique among North American raptors. The tail is gray-brown with about six narrow dark bands and one wider subterminal band. The upperparts are brown.

Calgary, Canada

08/03/2011