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The immature plumage, which is worn for two years, is similar to that of adults in its two- toned underwing and finely barred tail, but young birds have a spotted and streaked breast that at times shows a hint of a darker pattern, and the head shows a definite buffy streak above the eye and on the cheek, with a dark eye line and malar stripes. This typical pattern occurs on perhaps half the Swainson’s Hawk encountered in Arizona, and if color pattern alone is used for identification, the other half will be mis-identified. (Glinski 1998).
Found only in the New World; it breeds in North America, in the Great Plains and arid regions, north sparingly to interior Alaska, and south to northern Mexico, and winters in South America. The normal winter range is the Pampas of Argentina, and it has been assumed that any found elsewhere at that season are casuals, probably unable to make the long migration (Brown et al 1968).
Gives a descending shrill, plaintive whistle, kreeeeeeer, trailing off at end. In flight, shows profile like that of Turkey Vulture; the wings are held in a dihedral, or "V", position, which promotes aerodynamic stability in open landscapes where wind can interfere with flight close to the ground. Highly migratory, often seen in large flocks on spring and fall flights. During the breeding season, a soaring, open country hunter. Sometimes hunts high in the air, but more frequently courses low over prairie. Rarely observed flying low at high speed as Ferruginous Hawk does. Often hunts from perches such as tree limbs, poles or posts, rocks, and elevated ground.