Natural Chicago Educational Corner: Rough-Legged Hawk

Buteo lagopus

Rough-legged hawks have variable plumage, from light to dark, with dark marks at the wrists and wing tips. The broad tail is usually white at the base. Wings are long and broad; wingspan is about 52 to 54 inches (~132-138 cm).

This northern species nests on cliffs, along steep banks, or in conifers. Eggs (2-7 per clutch) are greenish-white, sometimes marked with brown, a little over two inches in length. Rough-legged hawks prey almost entirely on rodents.

Distribution: across the northern hemisphere; winters throughout continental United States; summers across taiga and tundra of Alaska and Canada.

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Accipitriformes
Family: Accipitridae

Fun Facts:

• Cyclical changes in northern rodent populations occasionally drive the Rough-legged Hawk to migrate further south into the United States
• In the far north, Rough-legged Hawk nests may contain bones of lemmings, along with sticks and branches.