Adult Rough-legged Hawk close up, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah

Rough-legged Hawk Images, Facts and Information:

Buteo lagopus

  • Rough-legged Hawks are have bold, patterned plumage in shades of browns and creams, they have long narrow wings and long tails. They have light, intermediate and dark morphs. Males and females have different appearances.
  • Rough-legged Hawks have feathered tarsi, one of only two buteos in North American that have feathered legs, the Ferruginous Hawk is the other. Golden Eagles also have feathered tarsi.
  • Rough-legged Hawks breed in the Arctic tundra and taiga and winter in southern Canada and the northern U.S. where they can be seen in fields, marshy areas, prairies and deserts.
  • They lay 2 to 3 eggs which take about 31 days to hatch. The female does most of the brooding.
  • Their diet includes lemmings, small mammals, birds and they do eat carrion.
  • Rough-legged Hawks hover and kite searching the ground below for prey.
  • They eat about a tenth of their weight per day.
  • Rough-legged Hawks are usually silent except for when they are on their breeding grounds.
  • Nicknames include “Roughy” and “Roughie”.
  • Rough-legged Hawks can live up to 18 years or more.

I hope you enjoy viewing my Rough-legged Hawk photos.

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