Swainson's Hawk
Swainson's HawkSwainson's HawkSwainson's HawkSwainson's Hawk

Swainson's Hawk

Buteo swainsoni

Silhouette: Lauren Anderson · PhyloPic

LCLeast ConcernNTVUENCR
Daily sighting probability <5% · Rare
at Dallas

In 3 days <5%

53 Verified sightings at Dallas
4,527 In all 48 parks From 2019 to 2026
April Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Swainson's Hawk

Swainson's hawk (Buteo swainsoni) is a large bird species in the Accipitriformes order. This species was named after William Swainson, a British naturalist. It is colloquially known as the grasshopper hawk or locust hawk, as it is very fond of Acrididae (locusts and grasshoppers) and will voraciously eat these insects whenever they are available.

Their breeding habitat is prairie and dry grasslands in western North America. They build a stick nest in a tree or shrub or on a cliff edge. This species is a long-distance migrant, wintering in Argentina; it has been recorded as a vagrant in neighboring Chile, in the island countries of the Dominican Republic, and Trinidad and Tobago, and in Norway.

This species or its immediate predecessor is the ancestor of the Galápagos hawk, as demonstrated by recent research. Then later diverged from the mainland birds perhaps 300,000 years ago, a very short time in evolution. Swainson's hawk is a raptor and a medium-sized member of the genus Buteo. It broadly overlaps in size with the red-tailed hawk (B. jamaicensis), a related species found as a breeding resident almost throughout North America. Swainson's hawk is on average a little... Wikipedia →

Sounds

Call0:05

United States · 2022

© Sue Riffe · XC736223 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Flight call0:20

United States · 2019

© Bruce Lagerquist · XC468974 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Call0:27

United States · 2018

© Julia Wittmann · XC438511 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 El Palmar National Park 🇦🇷 Argentina
~20%
2 Badlands National Park 🇺🇸 United States
~10%
3 Yellowstone National Park 🇺🇸 United States
~10%
4 Grand Teton National Park 🇺🇸 United States
~10%
5 Cahuita National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
~10%
6 Soberanía National Park 🇵🇦 Panama
~10%
7 Big Bend National Park 🇺🇸 United States
~10%
8 Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
~10%
9 Palo Verde National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%
10 San Lorenzo Protected Forest 🇵🇦 Panama
<5%
11 Parque Natural Metropolitano 🇵🇦 Panama
<5%
12 El Triunfo 🇲🇽 Mexico
<5%
13 Everglades National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
14 La Amistad International Park (Panama) 🇵🇦 Panama
<5%
15 Bastimentos Island National Marine Park 🇵🇦 Panama
<5%
16 Chagres National Park 🇵🇦 Panama
<5%
17 Grand Canyon National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
18 Santa Rosa National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%
19 Guadalupe Mountains National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
20 Death Valley National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
21 Braulio Carrillo National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%
22 Los Quetzales National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%
23 Darién National Park 🇵🇦 Panama
<5%
24 Saguaro National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
25 Joshua Tree National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
26 Volcán Barú National Park 🇵🇦 Panama
<5%
27 Tortuguero National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%
28 Elk Island National Park 🇨🇦 Canada
<5%
29 Rocky Mountain National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
30 Poás Volcano National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%
31 Cañón del Sumidero National Park 🇲🇽 Mexico
<5%
32 Tapantí-Macizo de la Muerte National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%
33 Big Cypress National Preserve 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
34 Chirripó National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%
35 Carara National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%
36 Tenorio Volcano National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%
37 Manuel Antonio National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%
38 Glacier National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
39 Cumbres de Monterrey National Park 🇲🇽 Mexico
<5%
40 Zion National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
41 Iberá National Park 🇦🇷 Argentina
<5%
42 Pacific Rim National Park Reserve 🇨🇦 Canada
<5%
43 Arenal Volcano National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%
44 Banff National Park 🇨🇦 Canada
<5%
45 Channel Islands National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
46 Yosemite National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
47 Los Nevados National Natural Park 🇨🇴 Colombia
<5%
48 Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Calgary 🇨🇦 Canada
~10%
2 Denver 🇺🇸 United States
~10%
3 Sacramento 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
4 Edmonton 🇨🇦 Canada
<5%
5 Torreón 🇲🇽 México
<5%
6 Panama City 🇵🇦 Panama
<5%
7 Mexico City 🇲🇽 México
<5%
8 Houston 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
9 San Antonio 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
10 Salt Lake City 🇺🇸 United States
<5%

Zoos & Centres Where Found

# Zoo / Centre Country
1 Abilene Zoological Gardens 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
2 Lee G. Simmons Wildlife Safari Park 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
3 Ecological Center of Sonora 🇲🇽 Mexico In captivity
4 Parque y Zoológico Nacional Arquitecto Manuel Valverde Podestá 🇩🇴 Dominican Republic In captivity
5 Phoenix Zoo 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
6 Six Flags Discovery Kingdom 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
7 San Francisco Zoo 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
8 Birds of prey 🇨🇦 Canada In captivity
9 El Paso Zoo 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
10 The Abilene Zoo 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
11 Santa Ana Zoo 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
12 Spring River Zoo 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
13 Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
14 Alameda Park Zoo 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
15 Santacruz zoo 🇨🇴 Colombia In captivity
16 Tracy Aviary 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
17 Cosley Zoo 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
18 California Raptor Center 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
19 Texas State Aquarium 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
20 Lindsay Wildlife Experience 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
21 Carolina Raptor Center 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
22 Cascades Raptor Center 🇺🇸 United States In captivity

Closest Relatives at Dallas

Red-shouldered Hawk
LC

Red-shouldered Hawk

☀️ Diurnal Bird

Buteo lineatus

Daily sighting probability ~20% · Possible
Red-tailed Hawk
LC

Red-tailed Hawk

☀️ Diurnal Bird

Buteo jamaicensis

Daily sighting probability ~10% · With luck
Broad-winged Hawk
LC

Broad-winged Hawk

☀️ Diurnal Bird

Buteo platypterus

Daily sighting probability <5% · Rare
Mississippi Kite
LC

Mississippi Kite

☀️ Diurnal Bird

Ictinia mississippiensis

Daily sighting probability ~10% · With luck
Bald Eagle
LC

Bald Eagle

☀️ Diurnal Bird

Haliaeetus leucocephalus

Daily sighting probability <5% · Rare
Sharp-shinned Hawk
LC

Sharp-shinned Hawk

☀️ Diurnal Bird

Accipiter striatus

Daily sighting probability <5% · Rare
Hen Harrier
LC

Hen Harrier

☀️ Diurnal Bird

Circus cyaneus

Daily sighting probability <5% · Rare
Turkey Vulture
LC

Turkey Vulture

☀️ Diurnal Bird

Cathartes aura

Daily sighting probability ~10% · With luck
Black Vulture
LC

Black Vulture

☀️ Diurnal Bird

Coragyps atratus

Daily sighting probability ~10% · With luck
Osprey
LC

Osprey

☀️ Diurnal Bird

Pandion haliaetus

Daily sighting probability <5% · Rare
Northern Cardinal
LC

Northern Cardinal

☀️ Diurnal Bird

Cardinalis cardinalis

Daily sighting probability ~80% · Very likely
Blue Jay
LC

Blue Jay

☀️ Diurnal Bird

Cyanocitta cristata

Daily sighting probability ~80% · Very likely

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Swainson's Hawk in Dallas?

Rare

Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Swainson's Hawk sighting in Dallas on a given day, based on 53 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 192nd most-seen of the 253 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Swainson's Hawk in Dallas?

Any time of year

In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Swainson's Hawk in Dallas on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.

What time of day is best to see a Swainson's Hawk?

Between 8 and 11 am

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Swainson's Hawk sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.

Is Dallas the best place to see a Swainson's Hawk?

16th of 27

Of the 27 cities where we can rate Swainson's Hawk sightings, Dallas ranks 16th at under 5%. The best odds are in Calgary (Canada, about 10%), Denver (United States, about 10%) and Sacramento (United States, under 5%).

Which relatives of the Swainson's Hawk live in Dallas?

Same genus: Buteo

The closest relatives of the Swainson's Hawk that you can see in Dallas (genus Buteo, Buteos) are Red-shouldered Hawk (about 20%) and Red-tailed Hawk (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.

Where does the Swainson's Hawk sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Swainson's Hawk is recorded against all the birds logged in Dallas (53 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.

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