Harbingers of Autumn

My first Swainson’s Hawks of this season

We can see Swainson’s Hawks in large numbers during their spring and fall migration. As of yet, they have not arrived in numbers but on August 10th I did see a few early birds northwest of Tucson. They were in an alfalfa farm field and one of the Swainson’s Hawks rested on a fresh bale of hay.

A few of the birds had been resting around the fields. One of the Swainson’s Hawks took off.

We followed this bird as it slowly climbed into the sky.

Swainson’s Hawks are birds that summer in the Great Plains and Western United States and up through Canada. During winter, almost all of them fly to South America and winter in Argentina as the range map below shows. https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Swainsons_Hawk/maps-range

While Swainson’s Hawks come in a wide variety of looks, nearly all have dark flight feathers set behind lighter feathers at the front of their wings. You can see that in the bird below.

The Swainson’s Hawk powered past all of the farm buildings and lifted into the sky.

I mentioned that most Swainson’s Hawks have light flight feathers and darker feathers towards the front of their underwing. I also mentioned that Swainson’s Hawks come in a variety of looks. A small percentage are what is called a dark morph. Their underwings look a bit different as you can see in the Swainson’s Hawk below.

Here is another look of this Swainson’s Hawk as it was gliding through the air.

In a typical year, the great volume of Swainson’s Hawks may begin passing through Southern Arizona near the end of September. I’ll be looking for them.