Our winter visitors from the Arctic Circle, Rough-legged Hawks. The French name for our winter hawks is Buse pattue, the scientific
community recognizes them as Buteo lagopus, while birders know them as
Rough-legged Hawks. But, I call them Winter Hawks because that's the
only time of the year we see them. The rest of the year they're either
nesting up in the Far North, very close to and even on the Arctic
Circle, or they're moving back and forth on their long treks.
Rough-legged
Hawks are the heaviest of a tribe of soaring hawks known as Buteos
(which includes our common red-tailed hawk), a term that comes from the
old Latin Butzus which gave us the term, Buzzard. Rough-legged Hawks
weigh in at about three to five pounds (males smaller and lighter than
females), have a wing-span of over four feet and stay in the air almost
effortlessly by using atmospheric lift. They come by their name because
of the feathers that come all the way to their toes, a physical trait
that helps them keep their eggs warm in cold nights of the Far North.
