Grassland Bird: Swainson's Hawk

Swainson's Hawk, Buteo swainsoni

Credit tgreybirds.com

This raptor migrates from its winter home in Argentina into western North America and breeds as far north as Canada. It's fate is tied to the amount of open rangeland left in the western prairie, and lots of habitat has been lost in the 20th Century after range land was broken out and farmed. The bird helps producers by eating insects, mammals and reptiles considered by producers to be pests. Conservation Reserve Program-enrolled land provides the type of habitat the bird can thrive in.

This Playa Country episode is the fourth in a four-part series on grassland birds. It originally aired August 13, 2013.