Gardening Actions:

Create a place for wildlife
Make your yard a refuge for migratory birds.

Stop migratory birds from hitting your windows
Thousands of birds die each year on their migrations when hitting residential and commercial windows.

Create a haven for hummingbirds
Attract these tiny and colorful migrating birds.

Safe birdfeeding tips
The best food for birds comes from native plants, but if you offer feeders, here are some important tips.

Purchasing Actions:

Join NWF and help migratory birds
Your tax-deductible donation supports NWF's work to protect migratory birds and other imperiled wildlife. We'll acknowledge your gift with a complimentary plush animal. Thank you.

Buy bird-friendly coffee
Many birds spend the winter in South America. Help protect their homes from coffee growers. Purchasing this coffee also supports NWF.

Migration Distance
11,000-17,000 miles; 6,000 miles from the Great Plains and Northern California to Argentina

Migration Route and Stopover Sites
Swainson's hawks migrate from western North America, including areas in east-central Alaska, southwest Canada, Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Minnesota, parts of Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas and Oklahoma. The majority of the population migrates to the La Pampas region in Argentina for the winter. Small populations of Swainson's hawks live in southeastern Florida and along the Texas coast.

Migration Hazards
Swainson's hawks, like many species of raptor, depend on rising thermals to gain lift. Thermals are columns of rising air caused by surface heating. The hawks travel by moving from thermal to thermal, thus moving and soaring higher and higher without having to use much energy. When the sun is blocked, thermals are lessened, so the hawks will rest. Since Swainson's hawks rely so heavily on thermals to migrate to South America, they avoid having to cross over large areas of water, as thermals are not as common over water. Swainson's hawks must follow the geographic lines and cross from North to South America by way of Panama, using thermals to funnel through the small tract of land. After resting in groups of 100 or more overnight, they rise the next day with new thermals in a spectacle that has been described as a cyclone of birds.

Bird Size
Males typically weigh up to 2 pounds, while females are larger at 2.5 pounds

Threats

• Habitat and food loss due to agriculture; some farming practices have caused a reduction in small mammals (squirrels, voles, mice) and grasshoppers (both primary food sources)
• Poisoning by pesticides and insecticides; from 1995-6, over 10,000 birds were killed after eating grasshoppers that had been treated with a harsh insecticide. Others were killed after being sprayed with pesticide while flying over farming land.

Interesting Facts
This hawk is known as the "grasshopper hawk" due to the large numbers of grasshoppers they eat. It will fly behind tractors and snatch any small animals or insects that are disturbed as the tractor goes by.

Send Swainson's hawk e-cards Invite your friend to come learn about this amazing bird.