How to Identify aRough-legged Hawk
Buteo lagopus · 18.5–20.5 in (47–52 cm)
Male vs. female
Male
Mottled brown and white with dark wrist patches on pale underwings and a white tail with a broad dark band. Sexes look alike.
Female
Like the male but usually with a more solid dark belly patch.
Male photo: Marton Berntsen / Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Second photo: Walter Siegmund (talk) / Wikimedia, CC BY 2.5
Field marks
- Bold black patches at the bend of each underwing
- White tail base with a broad dark terminal band
- Small bill and feathered legs
- Hovers frequently over open ground
Similar species
What it sounds like
A drawn-out, descending, catlike scream, mostly on the breeding grounds.
Behaviour that gives it away
One of only two North American hawks with legs feathered to the toes, an adaptation to Arctic cold — and it hovers far more than other buteos.
Habitat & range
Arctic tundra in summer; open fields, marshes and airports across the northern states in winter.
When you'll see it
A winter visitor in North America.
What it eats
Voles and lemmings, plus other small mammals and birds.
Did you know?
Its feathered legs — the "rough legs" of the name — are an Arctic adaptation shared with only the Ferruginous Hawk and Golden Eagle.
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