“Ferruginous Hawk, Open Country Guide”

We venture out into the wilder, open country where this bird makes his home on the range. Found in prairies and deserts of the West, the regal Ferruginous Hawk hunts from a lone tree, rock outcrop, or high in the sky. This largest of North American hawks really is regal—its species name is regalis—with a unique gray head, rich, rusty (ferruginous, ferr=iron/rust) shoulders and legs, and gleaming white underparts. A rarer dark-morph is reddish-chocolate in color. Ferruginous Hawks eat a diet of small mammals, sometimes standing above prairie dog or ground squirrel burrows to wait for prey to emerge.

In folklore around the world, hawks are revered as divine messengers, bringing insight, discernment, and clarity. They can be symbols of courage, power, and hunting prowess, and are sometimes seen as guardian spirits or spirit guides. Able to see the future, hawks also warned of impending danger or relayed divine intervention.

**This piece will be part of an exhibition at the Plains Art Museum in Fargo from January-July**

Fast facts:

• Ferruginous means rust-colored, and refers to the reddish back and legs of light-morph birds (which are more common than dark morphs). Along with Rough-Legged Hawks and Golden Eagles, they are the only raptors to have feathers all the way to their talons. Fancy.

 

• The bulky sticks of their nests are not easily woven together for tree nesting, so they often build on the remains of pre-existing hawk or crow nests. The pair builds/refurbishes the nest together, with the male bringing most of the materials and the female doing most of the construction. Nest materials include sticks, twigs, old sagebrush stems, plastic and metal debris, and sometimes bones. When bison roamed the Plains in large numbers, their bones and hair would often be woven into their nests.

 

• Ferruginous Hawk fossils are found across the west and date back to the late Pleistocene.

 

• Ferruginous Hawks have a limited diet of small mammals: rabbits, hares, ground squirrels, prairie dogs, and pocket gophers. West of the continental divide, their main prey items are jackrabbits and cottontail rabbits; east of the divide, they eat mostly ground squirrels and prairie dogs.

 

• Courting pairs soar in wide circles, and the male “sky dances” by repeatedly diving and ascending. The pair may then grasp beaks and talons and spiral toward the ground, similar to Bald Eagle courtship.

Sources: Audubon Society and Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Original mixed media on raw stretched canvas with hard maple float frame.

Alternative hardwood frame available upon request at no extra cost. Email with inquiries.