November 2, 2008 - South Dakota Hawks and Scenery
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Red-tailed Hawks are the most widespread and familiar hawk of North America. They are often seen perching on roadside poles. They are year-round residents all across the United States and in the summer they are also found across most of Canada. They eat small mammals, birds, and reptiles. They often hunt by perching high on a pole or a tree and then swooping down upon their potential prey.
We were driving around in the Black Hills when we spotted this bird sitting in a tree right near the road. We pulled into a parking area next to the tree. The hawk was so intent on looking for a meal that it ignored us and I was able to get some nice photos.
Ferruginous Hawks are the largest hawks found in the United States. Their range is the western half of the U.S. in open, dry country. They hunt by soaring across the plains and then swooping down to catch medium-sized mammals like ground squirrels, pocket gophers, young jackrabbits, and prairie dogs. This is a light morph Ferruginous Hawk. We were driving by a Prairie Dog town in the Badlands. The hawk was on the ground and only about 30 feet from the road. We stopped and discovered that, by staying in our car, it didn’t see us as a threat. It was concentrating on eating the Prairie Dog it had caught.
This dark morph Ferruginous Hawk was only about 30 feet from the hawk in the last photo. Both of them had been successful in catching Prairie Dogs. The Latin name for Ferruginous Hawk is Buteo regalis which means kingly or royal. I think these two hawks really live up to that name.
earlorfphotos
on November 4, 2008Hi Shawn, You are right in saying that it shares a lot of the field marks of a juvenile, light morph Red-tailed Hawk (called a Krider's subspecies). However, the bird in the photo has fully feathered legs which is a characteristic of a Ferruginous. Red-tailed Hawks have no feathers on the legs. You can't tell from the photo but when I saw it in the field I was struck by how large this bird was. That also said Ferruginous to me. The Sibley field guide has a good illustration of a light juvenile Ferruginous.
Shawn
on November 3, 2008That particular Ferruginous isn't terribly easy to tell from a Red-tailed. It ALMOST looks like it has a belly band and the scapulars have a lot of white.
Guest
on November 3, 2008I feel like I'm taking a course. Your photos are enjoyable, but I really appreciate the informative comments. I loved the yellow badlands photo. Thanks.
Marge