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Swainson's Hawk

This neotropical migrant summers in California, and seems to favor the Central Valley, where we find it following harvesters in alfalfa fields, making a meal out of the exposed grasshoppers and mice.

Named after William Swainson, a British naturalist, this neotropical migrant summers in California, and seems to favor the Central Valley, where we find it following harvesters in alfalfa fields, making a meal out of the exposed grasshoppers and mice. One of the limiting factors in this hawk’s life history is mature trees-- like the Fremont Cottonwoods and Valley Oaks we include in Audubon California Working Land's restoration plantings— in close proximity to the agricultural fields where they feed. Audubon staff monitors planting for successful breeding seasons. Just this last year they spotted a fledgling perched in a mature Mexican Elderberry tree in Yolo County.

This bird has one of the longest migration routes of any raptor, traveling over 100 miles a day.

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