{"id":9300,"date":"2013-08-28T03:40:54","date_gmt":"2013-08-28T09:40:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=9300"},"modified":"2026-02-02T08:44:35","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T14:44:35","slug":"the-summer-of-swainsons-is-nearing-an-end","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/08\/28\/the-summer-of-swainsons-is-nearing-an-end\/","title":{"rendered":"The Summer of Swainson’s Is Nearing An End"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AdultAdult Swainson’s in flight over Box Elder County, Utah<\/span><\/p>\n

It won’t be long before Swainson’s Hawks start to migrate to South America and\u00a0some may already have started their journey south. Their breeding habitat is prairie and dry grasslands throughout western North America and they are named after William Swainson<\/span><\/a> who was a British naturalist. Swainson’s Hawks will breed as far north as southwestern Yukon and east-central Alaska.<\/p>\n

\"AdultAdult light morph Swainson’s Hawk in the Centennial Valley, Montana<\/span><\/p>\n

Swainson’s Hawks are also known as Grasshopper Hawks or Locust Hawks because they are very fond of locusts and grasshoppers and will scarf them down whenever or wherever they are available. This past summer I saw a flock of 70 or more Swainson’s in a single field gorging themselves on grasshoppers until they lifted off to form a whirling kettle of raptors in the sky.<\/p>\n

\"AdultAdult Swainson’s in flight over Fremont County, Idaho<\/span><\/p>\n

Swainson’s Hawks have three color morphs, light, intermediate, and dark and I enjoy seeing and photographing them all. In Utah, Montana and Idaho I see a lot of Swainson’s in agricultural areas that are irrigated and not so many of them when fields are dry farmed. The bird above was perched in a fir tree near a small group of houses near Henry’s Lake in Idaho after about 5 minutes the bird lifted off and flew towards some grassy fields near the lake.<\/p>\n

\"Sub-adultSub-adult Swainson’s Hawk in Beaverhead County, Montana<\/span><\/p>\n

I enjoy seeing Swainson’s Hawks in juvenile, sub-adult and adult plumage, to me they are all beautiful no matter what phases of plumage they are in.<\/p>\n

\"AdultAdult Swainson’s Hawk portrait on Antelope Island State Park, Utah<\/span><\/p>\n

Swainson’s Hawks<\/span><\/a> probably have the longest migration of any North American raptor, they can travel as far as 14,000 miles and each migration may last as long as two months. The hawks ride on thermals as they make their way to Central America where almost the entire population travels through the Isthmus of Panama. I wish I had been in Panama City in September or October instead of in March so I could have witnessed the spectacular sight of hundreds or thousands of Swainson’s Hawks passing overhead.<\/p>\n

\"LightLight morph Swainson’s Hawk sub-adult in the Centennial Valley, Montana<\/span><\/p>\n

Yes, the Summer of Swainson’s is nearing an end\u00a0 and they will be leaving soon but I have had a great time with them this summer and it isn’t over yet!<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Swainson\u2019s Hawk photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It won’t be long before Swainson’s Hawks start to migrate to South America and some may already have started their journey south. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9296,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1513,27,1148,223,1022,2245,2244,12,206,26],"tags":[4004,4200,11311,4169,4067,5046,4071,11312,2670,5827,530,4046,153,2239,4034],"class_list":["post-9300","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-beaverhead-county-montana","category-avian","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-centennial-valley","category-davis-county-utah","category-fremont-county","category-idaho","category-montana","category-swainson-hawks","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-buteo-swainsoni","tag-grasshopper-hawks","tag-hawks","tag-immature","tag-isthmus-of-panama","tag-juvenile","tag-kettle","tag-light-morph","tag-locust-hawks","tag-migration","tag-portrait","tag-raptors","tag-sub-adult","tag-swainsons-hawk"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/swainsonshawk-adult-light-mia-mcpherson-3220.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-2q0","jetpack_sharing_enabled":false,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":105569,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/08\/29\/dark-morph-swainsons-hawk-photos\/","url_meta":{"origin":9300,"position":0},"title":"Dark Morph Swainson’s Hawk Photos","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 29, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Early yesterday morning on my way to the auto tour route at Bear River MBR I was delighted to see and photograph not just one dark morph Swainson's Hawk but two.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult dark morph Swainson's Hawk in lift off pose, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, 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McPherson","date":"March 31, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"These are the life stages of the Swainson's Hawks I see, observe and photograph here in Utah, Idaho and Montana.","rel":"","context":"In "Beaverhead County"","block_context":{"text":"Beaverhead County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/montana\/beaverhead-county-montana\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Two Swainson's Hawk chicks on their nest tree, Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, Beaverhead County, Montana","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/swainsons-hawk-chicks-nest-mia-mcpherson-3125.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/swainsons-hawk-chicks-nest-mia-mcpherson-3125.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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perched on a rusty pole, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/swainsons-hawk-sub-adult-howell-mia-mcpherosn-5225.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/swainsons-hawk-sub-adult-howell-mia-mcpherosn-5225.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/swainsons-hawk-sub-adult-howell-mia-mcpherosn-5225.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/swainsons-hawk-sub-adult-howell-mia-mcpherosn-5225.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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2017","format":false,"excerpt":"I was thrilled and delighted to photograph a very cooperative dark morph Swainson's Hawk up close yesterday morning in northern Utah.","rel":"","context":"In "Box Elder County"","block_context":{"text":"Box Elder County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/box-elder-county-utah\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Swainson's Hawk dark morph looking down, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/swainsons-hawk-close-up-mia-mcpherson-9737.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/swainsons-hawk-close-up-mia-mcpherson-9737.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/swainsons-hawk-close-up-mia-mcpherson-9737.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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