Swainson's Hawk Similar Species Comparison

Similar Species

Red-tailed Hawk

Adult light morph (borealis)

Red-tailed Hawks have broader, paler wings than Swainson's Hawks, with dark marks on the leading edge between the shoulder and wrist (patagium). Red-tailed has a mostly white breast and a "belly band" of dark streaks.

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Similar Species

Red-tailed Hawk

Adult light morph (borealis)

Red-tailed Hawks lack the extensive brown head and upper breast of Swainson's Hawks. Red-tailed has a band of streaks across the belly that Swainson's lack.

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Similar Species

Ferruginous Hawk

Adult light morph

Ferruginous Hawks are very pale underneath, lacking Swainson's Hawk's brown hood and dark trailing edge of the wing.

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Similar Species

White-tailed Hawk

Adult light morph

White-tailed Hawks have a bold black band at the end of the white tail, whereas Swainson's Hawk has narrow dark bands along the tail. White-tailed also lacks the brown upper breast of Swainson's.

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Similar Species

White-tailed Hawk

Adult light morph

When perched, White-tailed Hawks have gray heads and reddish brown patches on the shoulders, whereas Swainson's are uniform brown above. They lack the brown upper breast of Swainson's Hawk.

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Similar Species

White-tailed Hawk

Immature

Immature White-tailed Hawks usually have a noticeable white chest patch, which Swainson's Hawks lack.

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Similar Species

Red-tailed Hawk

Adult dark morph (calurus/alascensis)

Dark morph Red-tailed Hawks are best told from Swainson's by shape: Red-tailed has broad, rounded wings, unlike Swainson's long, somewhat pointed wings that they hold slightly raised in a dihedral.

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Similar Species

Ferruginous Hawk

Dark morph

Dark morph Ferruginous Hawks have pale patches in the underside of the outer primaries, while dark morph Swainson's Hawks are uniformly dark on the underwing.

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Main Species

Swainson's Hawk

Adult light morph

Distinctively long-winged large hawk with pointed wingtips. Usually soars with wings slightly raised (dihedral). Light morph adults have dark flight feathers creating a broad, dark trailing edge to the wing. Also note the brown upper breast, creating a hooded appearance.

Adult dark morph

Dark-morph Swainson's Hawks can vary from reddish-brown to uniform dark brown, but they usually have a rufous tone to the underwing coverts and pale undertail coverts, as shown here.

Adult light morph

Large hawk with long, relatively slender wings with pointed tips. Typically soars with wings slightly raised (known as "dihedral"), often teetering in the wind.

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Adult light morph

Large hawk with long wings. Head and upper breast are brown, creating a hooded appearance. Tail has narrow dark bands, with a broader dark band at the tip.

Adult dark morph

Dark morph birds can range from reddish brown to fully dark brown, but usually have some rufous tones to the plumage. Note long wings.

Adult light morph

Large hawk of open country. Note brown head and breast, with unmarked white belly.

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Juvenile dark morph

Dark-morph immatures can be quite variable in degree of darkness, but usually have some buffy streaking on the body and show pale undertail coverts.

Juvenile light morph

Light-morph immatures are mottled brown above, with pale edges to the wing coverts, and have variable dark streaking on the breast. The head is often pale from bleaching.

Adult dark morph

Hunts in open country; eats mostly mammals such as ground squirrels on breeding grounds.

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Adult light morph

Light-morph adults have grayish heads, a white throat, and a brown upper breast, creating a hooded appearance.

Adult dark morph

Dark-morph adults usually have a two-toned appearance from beneath created by paler underwing coverts and darker flight feathers, similar to but less pronounced than the pattern of light-morph adults. Note the long wings with somewhat pointed tips.

Flock (with Broad-winged Hawks)

Forms large flocks on migration, sometimes with other raptors such as Broad-winged Hawk. Note Swainson's Hawk's relatively long, somewhat pointed wings.

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Juvenile dark morph

Dark-morph juveniles are variable but usually show buffy streaking on the body and often have pale head from bleaching. Note the distinctive long-winged shape.

Adult dark morph

Dark-morph adults are variable but usually have reddish brown tones to the underwing coverts, dark flight feathers creating a two-toned look to the underwing, and pale undertail coverts.

Juvenile

Young Swainson's Hawks have pale edges to the upperwing coverts creating a scalloped appearance.

Adult light morph

Note the distinctive long-winged shape with pointed wingtips—especially pronounced when the bird is gliding with wingtips swept back, giving an M-shape to the wings.

Juvenile light morph

Often has brown streaks on the chest but may also show brown upper breast and dark flight feathers, like an adult. Juveniles have a narrower, less distinct terminal tail band than adults.