Buteo Regalis

(Ferruginous Hawk)

This is a big bird. Its species name, regalis, is almost an understatement. It’s seen in fields, most often on posts or on clods of earth, watching for the nervous hare or ground squirrel that’s not going to make it home.

To separate it from similarly sized and shaped Rough-legged Hawks at a distance, birders look for the “holy trinity,” a triangle of white markings composed on their tails and wings as they lift and fly away and reveal the totality of their 5-foot wingspans. Their beautiful rufous legs explain their common name, ferruginous, as in iron metals that rust in the air.

Once abundant on the western prairies of the U.S. and Canada, their population is declining, particularly in Canada. They once lived among the Bison in their time, even building huge nests from the bones and woolly hair of the buffalo. Sadly, no more.