Listen to the Swainson's hawk
Tip: press play to see the sound's live frequency spectrum in blue over the waveform.
About the Swainson's hawk
The Swainson's hawk is a bird in the family Accipitridae (order Accipitriformes). Its conservation status on the IUCN Red List is “least concern”. Adults have a wingspan of about 130 cm and weigh around 1.1 kg.
What does the Swainson's hawk sound like?
Bird vocalisations are usually divided into songs – longer, often complex phrases used to defend territory and attract mates, sung mostly by males in the breeding season – and calls: short, simple sounds for contact, alarm, begging or flight.
The recordings here are labelled as begging call and call. Listen for differences in rhythm, pitch and repetition – the spectrum display makes it easy to see whether a sound is a pure whistle (a thin line), a harsh call (a broad band) or a trill (rapid repeated marks).
From Wikipedia
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.
Related birds in the genus Buteo
More from the family Accipitridae
Frequently asked questions
What does a Swainson's hawk sound like?
You can hear 1 recording of the Swainson's hawk on this page, including its begging call and call. Bird vocalisations are usually divided into songs – longer, often complex phrases used to defend territory and attract mates, sung mostly by males in the breeding season – and calls: short, simple sounds for contact, alarm, begging or flight.
Is the Swainson's hawk endangered?
The IUCN Red List classifies the Swainson's hawk as “least concern”.
What family does the Swainson's hawk belong to?
The Swainson's hawk (Buteo swainsoni) belongs to the family Accipitridae in the order Accipitriformes.
Sources & credits
- Begging call, call · Hereford, Cochise County, Arizona, United States by Diana Doyle – CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Wikidata Q833963 – CC0
- Wikipedia: Swainson's hawk – CC BY-SA 4.0
- Photo by Calibas – CC BY-SA 3.0