Unlimited edition. 18 x 24 inch, museum-quality poster on matte paper.

Ferruginous isn’t a word you see often. It means reddish-brown or rusty, and this hawk is named for the warm umbers and chestnuts found on its back, upper wings, and feathered legs. It’s a curious choice for the name, though, as the features that set this bird apart from other North American hawks have little to do with the quality of its browns. Not only is this the largest North American hawk (so big, it’s sometimes mistaken for an eagle), but in its most common form, the “light morph” referenced for this color column, it’s also the *palest*. Seen in flight from below, a light morph ferruginous hawk appears mostly white with some flecks of rust on its belly and underwings along with a rusty “V” formed by the legs.

This past winter, I encountered a ferruginous hawk during several visits to Pepperwood Preserve, here in Sonoma County. The first time I saw it, the sun was just breaking over the mountains to the east, and the bird’s curiously pale underside was the first clue that I wasn’t looking at a red-tailed hawk. It made repeated passes low over a stretch of rolling grassland, occasionally hovering for a moment or two before continuing on its patrol. Several weeks later, I came upon the same hawk sitting on a fence post, not far from where I’d encountered it before. This time, it dropped off the fence and hop-walked along the ground for a short distance before it decided I was just too close and took flight. It didn’t fly far, and perched atop a stately coast live oak that provided a generous view of the grasslands rolling down and away in all directions.

Why some hawk species have light and dark color morphs is not completely understood, but recent research points to the birds using it for camouflage; light morph birds have better hunting success in brighter areas (like the grassland where I encountered the ferruginous hawk this winter). Darker morph birds will have more success hunting in low light conditions such as those you’d find in or along the edges of a forest. Given the relative rarity of dark morph ferruginous hawks, I guess you’re more likely to see them in grasslands.

Note: These archival poster prints feature rich, appealing colors. I encourage customers to take care in handling them until they are framed/protected for display; the darker colors on the matte paper can be scratched. They ship rolled, so customers need to flatten them before framing (or have their framer do so).

Charitable Sales Model: Whenever one of these poster prints is purchased, a charitable contribution equal to 10% of the print’s cost (or $3.60) is made to a nonprofit working to tackle environmental or social challenges. Read more about my charitable sales model here.