Bird Photography – Ferruginous Hawk, Buteo Regalis

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Ferruginous Hawks are the largest of the North American hawks and are soo big they are often mistaken for eagles. They have a very fierce expression and I really enjoy photographing these beautiful buteos!

Ferruginous Hawk – A Few Facts

The Ferruginous Hawk (ferruginous = from Latin ferrum – iron, ferrgin-, iron rust, iron-rust color – reddish-brown), Buteo regalis (Latin, royal hawk), is a large bird of prey and belongs to the broad-winged buteo hawks.

This species is a large, broad-winged hawk of the open, arid grasslands, prairie and shrub steppe country; it is endemic to the interior parts of North America. It is used as a falconry bird in its native range.

They are also referred to as Prairie Eagle, Gopher Hawk, An old colloquial name is “Ferrugineous Rough-leg”, due to its similarity to the closely related Rough-legged Hawk. The Rough-legged and Ferruginous both have feathers all the way down to their toes, thus the confusion as well as a good way to ID a hawk that you may find.

Ferruginous Hawk – Collective Noun

I could not find a collective noun for this particular hawk. As you can see there a ton of them for hawks in general, most of them are rather silly or much to broad. I mean a pair of? Come collective noun peeps that one is silly.

Here is a mega list of collective nouns for Hawks an aerie of, a boil of, a brace of, a brood of, a cast of, a couple of, an eyass of, an eyrie of, an eyry of, a flight of, a kettle of, a knot of, a lease of, a leash of, a mews of, a moulting of, a nest of, a pair of, a stooping of, a schizophrenia of, a screw of, a soar of, a souse of, a spiraling of, a stream of, a swarm of, a swooping of, a tower of…

As usual, I think that the Ferruginous Hawks should have a collective noun of it’s own. So, I am thinking a crown of Ferruginous Hawks would be appropriate for this regal hawk. Thoughts?

Ferruginous Hawk – Jeff Wendorff’s Portfolio

I’ve had the chance to photograph this species several times and you can find all of my Ferruginous Hawk images in my online portfolio. You can see them all and order prints by clicking the button below.

Ferruginous Hawk, Buteo Regalis in flight photographed by Jeff Wendorff

Look at the stern expression on this Ferruginous Hawk

Ferruginous Hawk Photography Portfolio

Ferruginous Hawk Gallery

I was recently at the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum and they have the best raptor free flight show I’ve ever seen. BONUS, you can get shots like these!

: Ferruginous Hawk, Buteo Regalis in flight

: Ferruginous Hawk, Buteo Regalis

: Ferruginous Hawk, Buteo Regalis in flight across the desert.

: Ferruginous Hawk, Buteo Regalis’ fierce expression

: Close Encounter – Ferruginous Hawk, Buteo Regalis

: Ferruginous Hawk, Buteo Regalis in flight

: Ferruginous Hawk, Buteo Regalis in flight

Bird Photography Workshop

I will have several bird photography workshops available in 2014. You can signup for my mailing list by leaving a request in the comments or just keep an eye on my workshop website…HERE.