The ferruginous hawk is RED-listed. It is one of B.C.'s rarest breeding birds. Only two breeding records, one of a nest site, have been reported in B.C. Populations are thought to be vulnerable throughout western North America. It is designated as VULNERABLE in Canada by COSEWIC.
The ferruginous hawk occupies prairies and deserts throughout its range in North America. It hunts over open and semi-open areas for medium-sized mammals and birds. Major prey species include Columbian ground squirrels, northern pocket gophers and yellow-bellied marmots. This species perches on the ground more often than other buteos, but will use large trees, snags, power poles and fenceposts. It nests in open grasslands and deserts with scattered trees. On the Canadian prairies, nests are usually placed near the tops of deciduous trees. In the U.S., including Washington and Idaho, it nests mainly on cliffs and rock pinnacles. The only nest recorded in B.C. was 14 m up in a mature ponderosa pine. Nest trees are usually relatively large compared to surrounding trees. The breeding season likely extends from early May to August.
SOI: SOB, SOH, OKR, NOB, STU, THB
BG: BGxh, BGxw
IDF: IDFxh, IDFdm, IDFdk, IDFmw
PP: PPxh, PPdh
This species breeds in the southern interior of B.C., eastern Washington, the southern Prairies and the southwestern U.S. In B.C., known breeding localities are restricted to the Southern Thompson Uplands (Aspen Grove and Logan Lake). Potential breeding habitat exists in the Okanagan valley, Nicola valley, across the Thompson Plateau, Thompson Basin, eastern Similkameen valley and Richter Pass.
Generally this species winters on their breeding ranges, but birds in B.C. appear to move southward out of the province. Migratory movements are unknown, but the few birds that occur in B.C. likely drift north from eastern Washington.
AC, BS, PP, SS
Foraging:
1: non-vegetated/sparse
2: herb
3: shrub/herb
Nesting:
6: mature
7: old
Open grasslands with copses of aspens, cottonwoods and mixed woodlands are important habitats for nesting. When nesting in trees, this species nests in sparse old-growth and mature ponderosa pine/Douglas-fir forests (age class 7, 8, 9), probably including mature cottonwoods and aspens (age class 5) at the edge of grasslands. Typically live or decaying, rather than dead, trees are used for nest sites. It will nest on rock pinnacles or cliffs, yet to date, this has not been observed in B.C.
Fitzner, R.E., D. Berry, L.L. Boyd and C.A. Rieck. 1977. Nesting of ferruginous hawk
(Buteo regalis) in Washington, 1974-75. Condor 79:245-249.
Houston, C.S. 1982. Artificial nesting platforms for ferruginous hawks. Blue Jay 40:208-
213.
Howard, R.P. 1975. Breeding ecology of the ferruginous hawk in northern Utah and
southern Idaho. MSc thesis, Utah State Univ., Logan, UT.
Ramakka, J.M. and R.T. Woyewodzie. 1993. Nesting ecology of ferruginous hawk in
northwestern New Mexico. J. Raptor Res. 27:97-101.
Schmutz, J.K. 1984. Ferruginous and Swainson's hawk abundance and distribution in
relation to land use in southeastern Alberta. J. Wildl. Manage. 48:1180-1187.
__________. 1987. The effect of agriculture on ferruginous and Swainson's hawks. J.
Range Manage. 40:438-440.
Schmutz, J.K. and R.W. Fyfe. 1987. Migration and mortality of Alberta ferruginous
hawks. Condor 89:169-174.
Schumutz, J.K., S.H. Brechtel, K.D. De Smet, D.G. Hjertaas, C.S. Houston and G.L.
Holroyd. 1994. National Recovery Plan for the Ferruginous Hawk. Recovery of Nationally Endangered Wildlife Committee, Ottawa, ON. Report No. 11.
Schmutz, J.K., S.M. Schmutz and D.A. Boag. 1980. Coexistence of three species of
hawks (Buteo species) in the prairie-parkland ecotone. Can. J. Zool. 58:1075-1089.
Suter, G.W., II and J.L. Joness. 1981. Criteria for golden eagle, ferruginous hawk, and
prairie falcon nest site protection. J. Raptor Res. 15:12-18.
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and Swainson's hawk. J. Field Ornith. 54:401-406.
