Swainson’s Hawks still mesmerize nine years later

By STEVE CHRISTENSEN

    My hawks are back. Okay, they aren’t my hawks, I’ve just been watching them for nine years.         The same two hawks, or so I believe, for nine years.
    Here’s some perspective: Swainson’s hawks go to Argentina every year.         Yes, every Swainson’s hawk in the world flies to Argentina every year. Okay, so maybe one doesn’t, but the other 99.9 percent do.
    So, in late September these hawks leave Utah, or wherever they spend the warm months, and fly to Argentina to spend the winter.
    Google maps didn’t have a distance from Utah to Argentina, but my ruler suggests it’s somewhere in the vicinity of 6,000 miles, maybe 7,000, depending on where one starts and where one ends. It takes a month, maybe longer.
    Think about that for a moment. These incredible birds fly 6,000 miles to spend the winter. But, here’s the incredible part. Mating pairs don’t spend the time flying to, in, or flying back from Argentina together. Yet, within a day or so of one another, they show up in the same spot in rural Utah.
    They are together for five or six months, mate, raise a family, and then begin the arduous task of flying to Argentina again, hopefully with young birds that will continue the tradition.
    For the past nine years, including last week, these hawks have been coming back to the same grove of trees in rural Utah to nest.
    Someone asked how I know it’s the same birds. Obviously, I don’t. Swainson’s Hawks mate for life, but if something happens to one of the pair, the other will take a new mate. So, while I don’t know it’s the same pair, photos suggest it is.
    Swainson’s hawks are in the same genus as Red-tailed hawks.
    Red-tails are the most common hawk in the world, and the one you see most often. To the casual observer a Swainson’s hawk looks from a distance like a Red-tail. Up close they are very different in color and they are slightly smaller, but you wouldn’t know that unless you saw them side by side.
    About the middle of April, somewhat dependent on weather, these two hawks show up at the same spot in rural Utah. One year I was lucky enough to be present when they reunited. They truly acted happy to see one another, as I was treated to a rare aerial display that few people have the good fortune to witness.
    Over the years I’ve seen these birds defend their nest, move to a new nest and give the old nest to other hawks, move back to the first nest, then move to a new nest when that one fell.
    Swainson’s hawks are not good nest builders. If forced to do so, they build a small, ugly little nest. But, they would much rather take over a nest built by other birds.
    Sometimes they assume an abandoned nest and sometimes they take a nest away from other birds. They are very aggressive and will defend their nest against any attempt to take it away. There are lots of members of the Buteo genus.
    Besides Swainson’s, in this area we have Red-tails, Ferruginous, and Rough-legged hawks.
    The Buteo genus also includes hawks we don’t have around here (at least not on regular basis), such as Red-shouldered and Broad-winged. There are lots of other members of the Buteo genus that are not common in North America.
    Birds don’t have boundaries and it’s certainly possible for a rare bird to show up just about anywhere. I won’t try to list all the Buteo hawks, since I’m bound to miss one.
    Swainson’s have been known to occupy eagle nests, owl nests, and other hawk nests. They’ve even been known to take a nest from other birds. If you’ve ever heard a Swainson’s hawk scream, you know why other birds might be scared of them. That scream could frighten the entire audience at an Alfred Hitchcock movie.
    I’ve spent many hours watching these birds, watching their young before they can fly, and many more hours doing research. It’s going to be a sad day when one of them doesn’t show up in mid-April.