Copyright © 2005 WBFI Research Foundation Bird database and its related content and media is Copyright (C) 2002 - 2005 Mitch Waite Group All rights reserved.
Rough-legged Hawk: Large hawk with brown upperparts, paler, streaked head, brown-spotted white breast, and dark breast band. The legs are fully feathered. Wings are mostly pale below and dark-edged. Upper half of tail is white, lower half is finely banded. Uncommon dark phase is brown-black overall.
● Song: Generally silent
● Foraging & Feeding: Rough-legged Hawk: Hunts mostly small mammals, especially lemmings during the summer; also takes birds or eats carrion.
● Breeding & nesting: Rough-legged Hawk: Lays two to three white eggs with brown streaks or blotches in a nest made of sticks, lined with moss, and built on a cliff. Eggs are incubated for 31 days mostly by the female.
● Similar species: Rough-legged Hawk: Northern Harrier has thinner wings and lacks white on tail. Harlan's Hawk has more mottling on underparts and has a whiter uppertail surface.