CreatureData

Swainson's hawk

Buteo swainsoni Bonaparte, 1838

LCLeast Concernbirds of prey

The swainson's hawk (Buteo swainsoni) is a species in the family Accipitridae, order Accipitriformes. Recorded adults weigh 808 g to 1.11 kg and live up to 16 years. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.

Swainson's hawk (Buteo swainsoni)
Photo: Calibas · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the swainson's hawk

Weight
808 g – 1.11 kgsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Wingspan
1.17 m – 1.37 msrc for Wingspan
Lifespan
16 yearssrc for Lifespan
Diet
Carnivoresrc for Diet
Longest recorded lifespan
24.1 years
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
grasslandsrc for Habitat
Egg incubation
32.8 dayssrc for Egg incubation
Young per litter or clutch
2.5src for Young per litter or clutch
Age at maturity
2 yearssrc for Age at maturity
Litters or clutches a year
1src for Litters or clutches a year
Lifestyle
Perchingsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Migratorysrc for Migration
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

How big is the swainson's hawk?

SWAINSON'S HAWK · WINGSPAN 1.37 MADULT HUMAN · HEIGHT 1.7 M
At 1.37 m, the recorded maximum wingspan of the swainson's hawk is about 81% of the height of an adult human (1.7 m, a fixed reference used for scale).

Photos of the swainson's hawk

Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.

Swainson's hawk (Buteo swainsoni)
Becky Matsubara from El Sobrante, California · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Where does the swainson's hawk live?

Not recorded

What is the swainson's hawk?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

Swainson's hawk (Buteo swainsoni) is a large bird species in the Accipitriformes order. This species was named after William Swainson, a British naturalist. It is colloquially known as the grasshopper hawk or locust hawk, as it is very fond of Acrididae (locusts and grasshoppers) and will voraciously eat these insects whenever they are available.

Their breeding habitat is prairie and dry grasslands in western North America. They build a stick nest in a tree or shrub or on a cliff edge. This species is a long-distance migrant, wintering in Argentina; it has been recorded as a vagrant in neighboring Chile, in the island countries of the Dominican Republic, and Trinidad and Tobago, and in Norway.

This species or its immediate predecessor is the ancestor of the Galápagos hawk, as demonstrated by recent research. Then later diverged from the mainland birds perhaps 300,000 years ago, a very short time in evolution.

From the Wikipedia article “Swainson's hawk” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Swainson%27s_hawk&oldid=1384080807), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

Is the swainson's hawk endangered?

The swainson's hawk is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species. What the categories mean.

How is the swainson's hawk classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderAccipitriformes
  5. familyAccipitridae
  6. genusButeo
  7. SpeciesButeo swainsoni Bonaparte, 1838

Synonyms Buteo cinereus, Buteo insignatus, Buteo oxypterus, Buteo pictus, Buteo swansoni, Buteo vulgaris, Buteo vulgaris, Buteo vulgaris, Falco vulgaris

Other names and names in other languages (47)
  • Grasshopper hawkEnglish
  • Swainson's buzzardEnglish
  • باز سوينسونArabic
  • aligot de SwainsonCatalan
  • káně bělohrdláCzech
  • PrærievågeDanish
  • PräriebussardGerman
  • preria buteoEsperanto
  • Busardo chapulineroSpanish
  • Aguililla de SwainsonSpanish
  • Aguilucho langosteroSpanish
  • Gavilán de SwainsonSpanish
  • preeriaviuEstonian
  • preeriahiirihaukkaFinnish
  • Buse de SwainsonFrench
  • Clamhán SwainsonIrish
  • TaguatoGuarani
  • Malfini SwensonHaitian Creole
  • עקב מגווןHebrew
  • prerijski škanjacCroatian
  • prériölyvHungarian
  • StúfuvákurIcelandic
  • Poiana di SwainsonItalian
  • アレチノスリJapanese
  • Sveinsono suopisLithuanian
  • Prerijinis suopisLithuanian
  • prēriju klijānsLatvian
  • PrairiebuizerdDutch
  • prærievåkNorwegian
  • myszołów preriowyPolish
  • bútio-de-swainsonPortuguese
  • bútio-das-pradariasPortuguese
  • Gaviao-papa-gafanhotoPortuguese
  • Gavião-papa-gafanhotoPortuguese
  • Свенсонов канюкRussian
  • AmerihkáboaimmašNorthern Sami
  • myšiak prériovýSlovak
  • prerijska kanjaSlovenian
  • Svensonov mišarSerbian
  • prärievråkSwedish
  • Kır şahiniTurkish
  • Sivri Kanatlı ŞahinTurkish
  • Канюк СвейнсонаUkrainian
  • канюк прерієвийUkrainian
  • 斯氏鵟Chinese
  • 史文森氏鵟Chinese
  • 斯温氏鵟Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List

Relatives of the swainson's hawk

Other species in the same genus Buteo.

CompareSwainson's hawk vs Common buzzardSwainson's hawk vs Rough-legged buzzardSwainson's hawk vs Long-legged buzzardSwainson's hawk vs Red-tailed hawk

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the swainson's hawk?

An adult swainson's hawk weighs 808 g – 1.11 kg and has a wingspan of 1.17 m – 1.37 m, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the swainson's hawk endangered?

The swainson's hawk is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.

How long does the swainson's hawk live?

The swainson's hawk has a recorded lifespan of 16 years.

What kind of animal is the swainson's hawk?

The swainson's hawk (Buteo swainsoni) belongs to the family Accipitridae in the order Accipitriformes.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Swainson's hawk (Buteo swainsoni). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/swainsons-hawk

MLA

“Swainson's hawk (Buteo swainsoni).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/swainsons-hawk.

BibTeX
@misc{swainsons_hawk_2026,
  title = {Swainson's hawk (Buteo swainsoni)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/swainsons-hawk},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}