Rough-legged hawks are winter visitors
- Meghan McMahon
- 1 day ago
- 2 min read
Rough-legged hawks may not be the most recognizable hawk in Will County, but they are one of the most interesting.
Imagine you live in a world covered in snow and ice, where the sun never sets, the wind is always howling, and the temperature barely gets above freezing. You spend your days cruising around looking for your version of a cheeseburger (lemmings and small rodents), caring for your nest on a sheer cliffside and raising your babies. Living in the arctic tundra is not for the faint of heart, and rough-legged hawks do this for more than half the year!
How to spot this hawk
Rough-legged hawks are named for their feathered legs. The rough-legged hawk, ferruginous hawk and golden eagle are the only American raptors that look like they are wearing pants made from feathers.
Words to know
Raptor: A bird of prey. A bird that uses its talons to grab prey. For example, an eagle, falcon, hawk or owl.
Lemming: A small, short-tailed rodent related to the voles, found in the Arctic tundra.
Sheer: Perpendicular, or nearly perpendicular.
Tundra: An area of land north of the Arctic Circle that is extremely cold and dry and where the ground is permanently frozen.
Nonbreeding: The time of year when an adult bird is not breeding.
These hawks are large birds with narrow wings that have black patches near their “wrists” and a black band at the tip. The tail is long and white at the base and usually has a black band or dark tip.
Do you eat like a bird?
To find out if you can eat as much as a rough-legged hawk, divide your weight by 10. That is how much food (in pounds) a nonbreeding rough-legged hawk would need to eat if it were your size. If you weigh 100 pounds, you would have to eat 10 pounds of food a day! That’s about 21 Big Macs! Recently hatched rough-legged hawks start feeding themselves when they are about 16 days old.
Eyes like a hawk
Most hawks are known for their spectacular vision and ability to see things from far away. Did you know that some hawks can see things that are completely invisible to us? Rough-legged hawks have been known to hunt in areas with a higher concentration of vole urine. It is believed that they may be able to see where the voles are leaving their waste behind.
Where can I find a rough-legged hawk?
Rough-legged hawks only visit Will County in the winter, and they are a rare sight. The habitats they like best are prairies, marshes and anywhere they can grab a quick rodent to eat!
Some places in Will County that have had previous rough-legged hawk sightings include Prairie Bluff Preserve, Black Walnut Creek Preserve, around Monee Reservoir and Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie. Want to see them for yourself? Dress warm, be patient and keep your eyes to the sky! Good luck and happy birding!