Provincially endangered and federally threatened, the hawks are under threat due to loss of native prairie, agricultural expansion and resource exploration. Ferruginous hawks or FEHA, prefer to nest in a lone tree surrounded by native prairie where they can find ample prey, mainly Richardson's ground squirrels. A single breeding pair and offspring can consume up to 500 ground squirrels in one breeding season. Being sensitive to disturbances, adult birds are known to abandon nests and or young if they are disturbed early on in the breeding season.
The FEHA overwinter in Southern Prairie provinces of south western USA and Mexico and return to Canada in early April. In Canada breeding pairs of hawks are found mostly in southern Alberta, Saskatchewan and have recently re-established in southern Manitoba. Habitat loss has reduced their historic range by about 50 percent. Not so long ago when the prairies were still roamed by wild Bison, bison bones would be used as nesting materials. More recently, nests are found to be comprised of dead grass, sticks, roots and cow dung.
My first opportunity to take a picture of a FEHA so far this season. Looks like I need to get a telephoto lens.
It didn't stick around for long.
Other threats to these hawks are predators such as Raccoons, Magpies and Great Horned Owls .
During nest checks it's not uncommon to find great horned owls and their fuzzy white owlets occupying a historic FEHA nest.
At the moment my job involves looking for new and historical hawk nests and recording data. The hawks are currently deciding where to nest or incubating eggs. 3-5 eggs are laid in late April to early May and are incubated for 30 days. As the filed season progresses we will be monitoring the progress of the nests and banding some Ferruginous Hawks.
I met these curious faces on a native reserve on the hill tops near to a wind farm that can be seen in the distance.
There is something very tranquil about seeing horses grazing freely on a sunny day.
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