Ferruginous Hawk

Ferruginous Hawk

Buteo regalis

Silhouette: Lauren Anderson · PhyloPic

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

In 3 days <5%

20 Verified sightings at Mesa
240 In all 6 parks From 2019 to 2026
January Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Ferruginous Hawk

The ferruginous hawk (Buteo regalis) is a large bird of prey and belongs to the broad-winged buteo hawks. An old colloquial name is ferrugineous rough-leg, due to its similarity to the closely related rough-legged hawk (B. lagopus).

The generic name buteo is Latin for 'buzzard'. The specific epithet regalis is Latin for 'royal' (from rex, regis, 'king'). The common name 'ferruginous' means 'rust-colored' or 'reddish-brown'. This species is a large, broad-winged hawk of the open, arid grasslands, prairie and bush steppe country; it is endemic to the interior parts of North America. It is used as a falconry bird in its native ranges.

This is the largest of the North American Buteos and is often mistaken for an eagle due to its size, proportions, and behavior. Among all the nearly thirty species of Buteo in the world, only the upland buzzard (B. hemilasius) of Asia averages larger in length and wingspan. The weight of the upland buzzard and ferruginous broadly overlaps and which of these two species is the heaviest in the genus is debatable. As with all birds of prey, the female ferruginous hawk is larger than the male, but there is some overlap between small females... Wikipedia →

Sounds

Flight call0:05

United States · 2024

© Sue Riffe · XC961082 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Call0:55

United States · 2011

© Andrew Spencer · XC77780 · CC BY-NC-ND 2.5

Begging call0:39

United States · 2020

© Alan Knue · XC578295 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Badlands National Park 🇺🇸 United States
~10%
2 Yellowstone National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
3 Grand Canyon National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
4 Zion National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
5 Rocky Mountain National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
6 Big Bend National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Denver 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
2 Los Angeles 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
3 Mesa 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
4 Salt Lake City 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
5 San Francisco 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
6 Sacramento 🇺🇸 United States
<5%

Zoos & Centres Where Found

# Zoo / Centre Country
1 ZooParc de Beauval 🇫🇷 France In captivity
2 Abilene Zoological Gardens 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
3 Espace Rambouillet 🇫🇷 France In captivity
4 African Lion Safari 🇨🇦 Canada In captivity
5 Birds of prey 🇨🇦 Canada In captivity
6 Lisbon Zoo 🇵🇹 Portugal In captivity
7 Wildparadies Tripsdrill 🇩🇪 Germany In captivity
8 Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
9 The Abilene Zoo 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
10 Oasi Naturalistica di Sant'Alessio 🇮🇹 Italy In captivity
11 Yellowstone Wildlife Sanctuary 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
12 Grizzly Bear Habitat 🇨🇦 Canada In captivity
13 Suffolk Owl Sanctuary 🇬🇧 United Kingdom In captivity
14 Lindsay Wildlife Experience 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
15 Loch Lomond Bird of Prey Centre 🇬🇧 United Kingdom In captivity
16 Cascades Raptor Center 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
17 Le centre de soins des rapaces Espace Rambouillet 🇫🇷 France In captivity

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Ferruginous Hawk in Mesa?

Rare

Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Ferruginous Hawk sighting in Mesa on a given day, based on 20 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 238th most-seen of the 268 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 Ferruginous Hawk in Mesa?

Any time of year

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

What time of day is best to see a Ferruginous Hawk?

Between 9 am and noon

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Ferruginous 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 Mesa the best place to see a Ferruginous Hawk?

Among the best

Of the 6 cities where we can rate Ferruginous Hawk sightings, Mesa ranks 3rd at under 5%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Denver (United States, under 5%) and Los Angeles (United States, under 5%).

Where does the Ferruginous Hawk sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Ferruginous Hawk is recorded against all the birds logged in Mesa (20 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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