Ferruginous

These hawks are amazing predators, specializing in gophers, prairie dogs, jack rabbits and other ground dwelling critters, but it will eat anything it can catch. It loves open grasslands and is the largest north american hawk. The long Name, “Ferruginous” is derived from the latin Ferrugo, meaning, “rust”, which is the predominate color of this hawk. The feature that sets a ferruginous somewhat apart is the size of their mouth, they are able to swallow much of their prey whole!