Swainson's Hawk is a bird mostly of western North America open areas that generally migrates all the way to southern South America for the winter. A few are seen in the fall, very rarely, in the east, most often as they pass hawkwatches like Kiptopeke and Rockfish Gap in Virginia and Cape May in New Jersey. When raising young they prey on a variety of small mammals, reptiles and birds, but during migration, they mainly eat large insects. This one, a light morph juvenile, seen on Oct 17th at a site not open to the public in Portsmouth, was conveniently found at close range in short grass on a dirt road shoulder, likely standing on a grasshopper. I wonder if there are any other photos from Virginia of one on the ground?
The blurry photo shows the characteristic dark flight feathers.
When it was flushed by a passing truck, two Red-tailed Hawks immediately saw it and chased it out of the area.
Brian Taber
