A medium sized buteo from western North America, immature swainsons are often mistaken for young red tails.  However, they are smaller, their wings are proportionally slightly longer and more pointed than the red tail’s.  In fact their wings resemble turkey vulture wings, and they also hold them at the same angle as the turkey vulture.  This mimickry allows them to get much closer to prey than other hawks.

  The swainson’s hawk eats more insects than other buteos its size and is sometimes called the grasshopper hawk.  It is also known to stand in groups at the mouths of ground squirrel burrows and grab squirrels as they emerge.

  Swainsons hawks gather in huge groups to make the longest migration of any hawk, up to 17,000 miles round trip from Canada to Argentina. They also have the most efficient migration method, soaring up to 17,000 feet on warm thermal currents, gliding gradually down gaining considerable speed, and then beginning the process again.  As soaring and gliding take very little energy, it is truly the lazy bird’s key to migration.

  The Swainsons hawk is vulnerable to pesticide poisoning in its wintering grounds in Argentina, and is in general decline throughout its range. Fire was shot by some moron in Utah, and later survived West Nile virus during its recovery period.