Which hawks hover

It had a broad black band toward the end of the tail. When its wings were at the bottom of the down stroke and we could see it back, it had a large white patch just above the tail, a white rump like a northern harrier. We recognized it easily, a rough-legged hawk, a winter visitor to Indiana and to the rest of the northern half of the U. Except Alaska; rough-legged hawks nest across the northern half of Canada and in Alaska.

I see one, sometimes more, most winters but not all. And there have been a few years when I saw many. Those years have also been ones when I looked for and sometimes saw other feathered northern predators.

Snowy owls, for example, and goshawks. Rough-legged hawks are noted for hovering. These are birds of open country, often treeless country. With few or no trees to perch in and watch for prey on the ground below like red-tailed hawks do, to search one spot of ground for a time they have to hover.

It hung in one spot for a minute, a minute and a half, then it dropped straight down, still beating its wings, then stopped its descent and hovered for another minute or so, dropped again, stopped its descent and hovered again, maybe 10 feet above the ground.

Without changing the way it was beating its wings that we could see, the hawk flew up and away, leaving us stopped by the side of the road staring out across an open field.

Edit Close. Toggle navigation. Rough-legged hawks like to hover over land, using beating wings. Recommended for you. KPC News. Latest e-Edition. The Herald Republican. To view our latest e-Edition click the image on the left. The Star. The News Sun. Online Poll. In recent years has Facebook had a positive or negative impact on our nation? TwistedSifter The Best of the visual Web, sifted, sorted and summarized.

Jul 19, Bill adds: Over several days I watched a pair of Red-tails taking advantage of the strong early summer winds streaming down from the Rockies, hovering in midair while scanning the foothills for mice and ground squirrels. Share this:. Trending on TwistedSifter. Freebie Alert! Don't stop here. Membership benefits include one year of Audubon magazine and the latest on birds and their habitats.

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