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Ferruginous Hawk (Buteo regalis)
Name Derivation:
Buteo: Latin term for "buzzard
hawk".
regalis: Latin for "royal", "regal",
refers to Real del Monte, Mexico, where the species was first found by
scientists.
Ferruginous: from the Latin ferrugo
meaning "rust", referring to the rust color in the
plumage.
Hawk: from the Teutonic base word hab,
meaning "to seize or take hold", the word evolved into Middle English
hauk from which comes "hawk".
Other names:
Eagle hawk, California squirrel hawk, ferruginous rough-legged buzzard; Spanish – aguililla patas ásperas.
Systematics:
Class: Aves; Order: Falconiformes; Family: Accipitridae
Key Identification Characters:
Generally brown above with rufous edging to feathers; throat, breast, and belly white, sometimes with a few rufous streaks; thighs chestnut-brown color; tail whitish with rufous near tip. Length, 23"; wingspan, 56".
Distribution:
Southwestern Canada and west-central United States.
El
Paso Region: uncommon winter resident.
Food:
About 85% small to medium sized mammals (including rabbits, ground squirrels, kangaroo rats); 10% birds; 3% reptiles and some amphibians; about 2% insects.
Breeding:
Number of eggs/clutch: range 1–8, generally 3-4; egg: white, spotted and blotched with shades of brown; 2.60" x 2.00"; nesting: no great requirement for a specific type of site for nest; from trees to ground level; constructed of variable material, from grasses and twigs, to bison and pronghorn bones.
Contributor: Scott M. Cutler, Curator of Collections and Exhibits; Curator of Ornithology