Rough-Legged Hawk

Buteo lagopus

The Rough-Legged Hawk breeds in the high Arctic regions of the northern hemisphere. There, they raise families and hunt small mammals such as lemmings. They spend winters in the lower 48 states of the USA, and similar latitudes in Europe and Asia.

Today, science recognizes four subspecies of Rough-Legged Hawk:

• B. l. sanctijohannis breeds in Alaska and northern Canada, and spends winters in the USA. 
• B. l. kamtschatkensis breeds along the shores of the Sea of Okhotsk, Kamchatka and Kuril Island. They spend winters in southeastern Russia, northeastern China and Japan.
• B. l. lagopus breeds in northern Eurasia from Scandinavia eastward. They spend winters in central Europe and east through central Asia.
• B. l. menzbieri breeds in northeastern Asia and spends winters in central Asia and east to China and Japan.

The moniker Rough-Legged refers to the feathering on their legs that extends all the way to their toes. This is a trait among raptors that I believe is shared only with Golden Eagles and Ferruginous Hawks. As of this writing, Malheur National Wildlife Reserve in December 2003, provided me with my only meeting with this species.