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Did You Know?
Swainson's hawks nearly became a conservation crisis species in the 1990s, when mass mortality events on the Argentine wintering grounds killed thousands of hawks that had consumed grasshoppers and locusts treated with monocrotophos and other organophosphate pesticides. Argentine farmers applied these pesticides to protect crops from grasshopper damage, and the Swainson's hawks — which had migrated 6,000 miles specifically to eat those grasshoppers — consumed the poisoned insects and died in enormous numbers. International conservation efforts following the die-offs resulted in the ban of…
If This Animal Could Talk...
"Watch closely, respect my space, and let my habitat explain the rest of the story."
Swainson’s hawks undertake one of the longest migrations of any North American raptor — a 12,000-mile round trip between breeding grounds on the Great Plains and wintering grounds on the pampas of Argentina. Buteo swainsoni accomplishes this journey in massive flocks that can number in the tens of thousands, streaming through Central America in concentrated corridors that create some of the most spectacular raptor migration events on the planet.
A hawk that spent the summer hunting ground squirrels in a Saskatchewan wheat field will spend the winter chasing grasshoppers across an Argentine cattle ranch, and the entire journey — north to south, south to north, 6,000 miles each way — happens twice a year with a regularity that puts most human travel schedules to shame.
North Louisiana sits well east of the Swainson’s hawk’s primary breeding range, which centers on the prairies and grasslands of the western and central United States. The species reaches its eastern breeding limit roughly at the Minnesota-Iowa border, and breeding records east of the Great Plains are scattered and sporadic. In North Louisiana, Swainson’s hawks occur as uncommon visitors — primarily during migration, with occasional winter records in the southwestern parishes that share a distribution pattern with other primarily western species like the white-tailed kite and crested caracara.
A Few More Facts
How they hunt and forage: Swainson's hawks earned the colloquial name "grasshopper hawk" or "locust hawk" because of the species' remarkable dietary shift between breeding and non-breeding seasons. During the breeding season in the western prairies, adults hunt small mammals — ground squirrels, pocket gophers, mice, and young rabbits — to feed their protein-demanding nestlings. Outside the breeding season, the diet shifts almost entirely to large insects, particularly grasshoppers, crickets, and locusts.On the Argentine pampas, wintering Swainson's hawks gather in enormous flocks that follow agricultural equipment through grain fields, feeding on the grasshoppers and other insects exposed by mowing and plowing. Hundreds of hawks perched in a harvested field, running awkwardly across the stubble to chase grasshoppers, looks nothing like the soaring, majestic raptor image that most people associate with hawks — but the behavior demonstrates the dietary flexibility that allows Swainson's hawks to exploit food resources across two continents and multiple ecosystems.During migration through North Louisiana, Swainson's hawks likely feed on whatever insects and small vertebrates the landscape provides — grasshoppers in agricultural fields, frogs along bayou margins, and the occasional rodent flushed from a field edge. A Swainson's hawk perched on a fence post in a North Louisiana cotton field during fall migration is hunting the same grasshopper prey that sustained the species on the Great Plains breeding grounds weeks earlier and that will sustain the bird on the Argentine pampas months later.
Live birth or eggs? no
When young are born: Pairs arrive on the breeding grounds in March or April and begin nest construction or refurbishment almost immediately, driven by the compressed breeding schedule that a long-distance migrant faces: the birds must nest, raise young, and depart for South America before fall, leaving no margin for delayed starts or extended nesting attempts.
What Is the Swainson’s Hawk Often Confused With?
Swainson's hawks are large buteos — similar in size to the red-tailed hawks that dominate North Louisiana's raptor community, but slimmer, more graceful, and built with proportionally longer wings that give the bird a distinctive silhouette in flight. Wingspan reaches 46 to 54 inches, and the long, pointed wing tips create a flight profile that looks more like a harrier than a typical buteo when the bird soars with wings held in a slight V-shaped dihedral.Light-morph adults — the most common plumage type — show a distinctive combination: dark brown upperparts, white underparts with a dark brown bib across the upper breast, a white throat, and bright white wing linings that contrast sharply with dark flight feathers from below. No other North American buteo shows this combination of white wing linings and dark flight feathers, and the contrast is diagnostic when visible on a soaring bird from below.Dark-morph adults are uniformly dark brown, lacking the white breast and wing-lining contrast, and dark morphs can create confusion with other dark buteos (dark-morph red-tailed hawks, rough-legged hawks). Juveniles are variable — heavily streaked below, often with a strong face pattern that includes a pale eyebrow and dark cheek — and juvenile Swainson's hawks can resemble juvenile red-tailed hawks closely enough to require careful assessment of wing proportions and flight style.
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Accessibility
Swainson's hawks are uncommon enough in North Louisiana that encountering one provides a genuine rarity thrill.
For visitors scanning agricultural fields and open areas during fall migration, any large soaring hawk with an unfamiliar silhouette — longer wings, slimmer build, slight dihedral — warrants binocular scrutiny for the underwing contrast that identifies a Swainson's hawk.For visitors who are blind or have low vision, Swainson's hawks produce a long, plaintive, whistled kreee call that differs from the red-tailed hawk's familiar screaming call, though the species is generally quiet outside the breeding season and unlikely to vocalize during migration passage through North Louisiana.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Does Swainson's Hawks live in North Louisiana?
Yes. North Louisiana sits well east of the Swainson's hawk's primary breeding range, which centers on the prairies and grasslands of the western and central United States. In North Louisiana, Swainson's hawks occur as uncommon visitors — primarily during migration, with occasional winter records in the southwestern parishes that share a distribution pattern with other primarily western species like the white-tailed kite and crested caracara.
Swainson's hawks are large buteos — similar in size to the red-tailed hawks that dominate North Louisiana's raptor community, but slimmer, more graceful, and built with proportionally longer wings that give the bird a distinctive silhouette in flight.
How do you identify Swainson's Hawks?
Swainson's hawks are large buteos — similar in size to the red-tailed hawks that dominate North Louisiana's raptor community, but slimmer, more graceful, and built with proportionally longer wings that give the bird a distinctive silhouette in flight. Wingspan reaches 46 to 54 inches, and the long, pointed wing tips create a flight profile that looks more like a harrier than a typical buteo when the bird soars with wings held in a slight V-shaped dihedral.Light-morph adults — the most common plumage type — show a distinctive combination: dark brown upperparts, white underparts with a dark brown bib across the upper breast, a white throat, and bright white wing linings that contrast sharply with dark flight feathers from below. No other North American buteo shows this combination of white wing linings and dark flight feathers, and the contrast is diagnostic when visible on a soaring bird from below.Dark-morph adults are uniformly dark brown, lacking the white breast and wing-lining contrast, and dark morphs can create confusion with other dark buteos (dark-morph red-tailed hawks, rough-legged hawks). Juveniles are variable — heavily streaked below, often with a strong face pattern that includes a pale eyebrow and dark cheek — and juvenile Swainson's hawks can resemble juvenile red-tailed hawks closely enough to require careful assessment of wing proportions and flight style.
What does Swainson's Hawks eat?
The Grasshopper Diet
Swainson's hawks earned the colloquial name "grasshopper hawk" or "locust hawk" because of the species' remarkable dietary shift between breeding and non-breeding seasons. During the breeding season in the western prairies, adults hunt small mammals — ground squirrels, pocket gophers, mice, and young rabbits — to feed their protein-demanding nestlings.
Outside the breeding season, the diet shifts almost entirely to large insects, particularly grasshoppers, crickets, and locusts.On the Argentine pampas, wintering Swainson's hawks gather in enormous flocks that follow agricultural equipment through grain fields, feeding on the grasshoppers and other insects exposed by mowing and plowing.
Hundreds of hawks perched in a harvested field, running awkwardly across the stubble to chase grasshoppers, looks nothing like the soaring, majestic raptor image that most people associate with hawks — but the behavior demonstrates the dietary flexibility that allows Swainson's hawks to exploit food resources across two continents and multiple ecosystems.During migration through North Louisiana, Swainson's hawks likely feed on whatever insects and small vertebrates the landscape provides — grasshoppers in agricultural fields, frogs along bayou margins, and the occasional rodent flushed from a
field edge.
A Swainson's hawk perched on a fence post in a North Louisiana cotton field during fall migration is hunting the same grasshopper prey that sustained the species on the Great Plains breeding grounds weeks earlier and that will sustain the bird on the Argentine pampas months later.
Is Swainson's Hawks dangerous to people?
No. This species is not dangerous to people when it is observed without handling or disturbance
