Swainson's Hawk
Buteo swainsoni
Call and song
Recording 1 · begging call, call
Recording 2
Recording 3
About the Swainson's Hawk
Longer-winged than Red-tailed Hawk, but otherwise the same size. Found in prairies and agricultural regions of western U.S. and Canada in warm months. Varies in color from rather pale with white belly to completely brown. Light morph is more common with brown breast band contrasting with white throat and belly. In flight from below, note dark primaries and secondaries contrasting with whitish forewing of light morph. Winters in South America and along Pacific coast of Central America. Extremely rare in U.S. in winter.
Species account: eBird.org, fetched 2025-12-26 · How these pages are made
Where it has been recorded
Recorded in 23 of the 253 countries we have eBird lists for. Each opens that country's checklist.
