rough-legged hawk

noun

variants or rough-legged buzzard

: a large circumpolar arctic hawk (Buteo lagopus) that winters southward and typically has a white tail with a wide black band or bands at the tip

Note: Rough-legged hawks hover in the air on beating wings to search tundra, marshes, and fields for rodents to prey on.

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web

Four black vultures in Deerfield, a Barrow’s goldeneye at at the Barton Cove campground, a rough-legged hawk and 40 snow buntings in Montague and 28 rusty blackbirds in Sunderland. —Isabela Rocha, BostonGlobe.com, 11 Feb. 2023

Worcester County: The region hosted three sandhill cranes at the Bolton Flats in Bolton, two black vultures in Fitchburg, two more in Blackstone, a single black vulture in Hardwick, and a rough-legged hawk near the Uxbridge Community Garden. —BostonGlobe.com, 5 Mar. 2022

Franklin County: Observers spotted a rough-legged hawk at the Orange Airport, five black vultures at Turners Falls and three in Deerfield, and a continuing summer tanager at 73 Hadley Road in Sunderland. —BostonGlobe.com, 12 Feb. 2022

On Plum Island, there were 16 Northern shovelers, eight red-grebes, two rough-legged hawks, and a yellow-breasted chat. —BostonGlobe.com, 23 Dec. 2019

There was a Northern shoveler at Winsegansett Avenue Marsh in Fairhaven, a rough-legged hawk at Mill Brook Wildlife Management Area in Freetown, and a continuing Eurasian wigeon at Broad Cove in Somerset. —BostonGlobe.com, 19 Jan. 2020

At noon, a rough-legged hawk flew in and roosted on a high snag about 50 yards away, seemingly content to soak up the solar warmth. —Paul A. Smith, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 1 Jan. 2020

Heavy October and November snows, along with frigid temperatures in the Northern Plains, have contributed to a modest influx of ferruginous and rough-legged hawks into Boulder County. —The Know, 4 Dec. 2019

During the 1980s and 1990s, wintering ferruginous and rough-legged hawks were considered fairly common on the plains of Boulder County. —The Know, 4 Dec. 2019

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Word History

First Known Use

1811, in the meaning defined above