Migrant type: Medium-distance migrant

These birds breed in the Arctic and are typically seen in Montana in the winter. Often found over open fields, prairies, or marsh lands with trees or tall utility poles to perch on. They are buteo hawks and utilize thermals like Red-tail hawks while they migrate.

Migrators typically arrive in late fall and leave early spring, depending on the season changes. Numbers that appear are quite variable every winter. Their populations seem tied to their main food source, lemmings, in the breeding season.

This beautiful bird’s entire population shifts from the arctic breeding grounds to wintering grounds in the U.S. and Southern Canada. Only few will move farther south than central U.S.

These birds can be seen feeding on carrion in the wintertime, especially on the side of the road. They will also feed on small mammals and occasionally birds, frogs, and large insects.

It can be tricky to ID these birds when they are in flight. The black patches at their wing’s wrists can be very helpful when spotting the light morphs. It gets harder since they also have dark morphs, like the Redtailed hawks. The Rough-legged hawks have a very dark color throughout and a large, dark bar at the tip of their tail and a white tail base.