WILDLIFE DISTRIBUTION AND OCCURRENCE
WILDLIFE SPECIES: Buteo lagopus | Rough-Legged Hawk 



GENERAL DISTRIBUTION : 
The breeding range of rough-legged hawk encompasses the high arctic
regions of the United States and Canada.  The rough-legged hawk breeds
from western and northern Alaska, northern Yukon Territory, and northern
Labrador south to northern and southeastern MacKenzie District, central
Canada, and northern Quebec and Newfoundland.  It also breeds from the
Kodiak islands and Umnak north to Prince Patrick, Victoria, Bylot, and
southwestern Baffin islands (Northwest Territories) [11,12,28,34].

The rough-legged hawk winters from south-central Alaska (casual) and
southern Canada south to southern California and southern Arizona, and
east to southern Texas, Missouri, Tennessee, and Virginia.  On the East
Coast wintering rough-legged hawks occur from Cape Cod to Chesapeake Bay
and are occasionally observed in eastern Texas and on the Gulf Coast
[11,22,28].


ECOSYSTEMS : 
FRES10 White-red-jack pine
FRES11 Spruce-fir
FRES15 Oak-hickory
FRES17 Elm-ash-cottonwood
FRES18 Maple-beech-birch
FRES19 Aspen-birch
FRES20 Douglas-fir
FRES21 Ponderosa pine
FRES22 Western white pine
FRES23 Fir-spruce
FRES24 Hemlock-Sitka spruce
FRES25 Larch
FRES26 Lodgepole pine
FRES27 Redwood
FRES28 Western hardwoods
FRES29 Sagebrush
FRES30 Desert shrub
FRES31 Shinnery
FRES32 Texas savanna
FRES33 Southwestern shrubsteppe
FRES34 Chaparral-mountain shrub
FRES35 Pinyon-juniper
FRES36 Mountain grasslands
FRES37 Mountain meadows
FRES38 Plains grasslands
FRES39 Prairie
FRES40 Desert grasslands
FRES41 Wet grasslands
FRES42 Annual grasslands


STATES : 


    
AK
	
AZ
    
AR
    
CA
    
CO
    
CT
    
DE
    
ID
    
IL


    
IN
    
IA
    
KS
    
KY
    
LA
    
ME
    
MD
    
MA
    
MI


    
MN
    
MS
    
MO
    
MT
    
NE
    
NV
    
NH
    
NJ
    
NM


    
NY
    
NC
    
ND
    
OH
    
OK
    
OR
    
PA
    
RI
    
SC


    
SD
    
TN
    
TX
    
UT
    
VT
    
VA
    
WA
    
WV
    
WI
    
WY






    
AB
    
BC
    
MB
    
NB
    
NF
    
NT
    
NS
    
ON
    
PE
    
PQ


    
SK
    
YT
    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    






BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS : 
    1  Northern Pacific Border
    2  Cascade Mountains
    3  Southern Pacific Border
    4  Sierra Mountains
    5  Columbia Plateau
    6  Upper Basin and Range
    7  Lower Basin and Range
    8  Northern Rocky Mountains
    9  Middle Rocky Mountains
   10  Wyoming Basin
   11  Southern Rocky Mountains
   12  Colorado Plateau
   13  Rocky Mountain Piedmont
   14  Great Plains
   15  Black Hills Uplift
   16  Upper Missouri Basin and Broken Lands


KUCHLER PLANT ASSOCIATIONS : 
   K002  Cedar-hemlock-Douglas-fir forest
   K003  Silver fir-Douglas-fir forest
   K004  Fir-hemlock forest
   K005  Mixed conifer forest
   K009  Pine-cypress forest
   K010  Ponderosa shrub forest
   K011  Western ponderosa forest
   K012  Douglas-fir forest
   K015  Western spruce-fir forest
   K016  Eastern ponderosa forest
   K017  Black Hills pine forest
   K018  Pine-Douglas-fir forest
   K019  Arizona pine forest 
   K020  Spruce-fir-Douglas-fir forest
   K021  Southwestern spruce-fir forest
   K022  Great Basin pine forest
   K024  Juniper steppe woodland
   K027  Mesquite bosque
   K028  Mosaic of K002 and K026
   K029  California mixed evergreen forest
   K031  Oak-juniper woodlands
   K032  Transition between K031 and K037
   K033  Chaparral
   K034  Montane chaparral
   K037  Mountain-mahogany-oak scrub
   K038  Great Basin sagebrush
   K039  Blackbrush
   K040  Saltbush-greasewood
   K041  Creosotebush
   K042  Creosotebush-bursage
   K043  Paloverde-cactus shrub
   K044  Creosotebush-tarbush
   K045  Ceniza shrub
   K055  Sagebrush steppe
   K056  Wheatgrass-needlegrass shrubsteppe
   K058  Grama-tobosa shrubsteppe
   K059  Trans-Pecos shrub savanna
   K060  Mesquite savanna
   K061  Mesquite-acacia savanna
   K062  Mesquite-live oak savanna
   K071  Shinnery
   K081  Oak savanna
   K082  Mosaic of K074 and K100
   K084  Cross Timbers
   K086  Juniper-oak savanna
   K087  Mesquite-oak savanna
   K089  Black Belt
   K093  Great Lakes spruce-fir forest
   K094  Conifer bog
   K095  Great Lakes pine forest
   K096  Northeastern spruce-fir forest
   K097  Southeastern spruce-fir forest
   K098  Northern floodplain forest
   K101  Elm-ash forest
   K106  Northern hardwoods
   K107  Northern hardwoods-fir forest
   K108  Northern hardwoods-spruce forest
   K109  Transition between K104 and K106


SAF COVER TYPES : 
     1  Jack pine
     5  Balsam fir
    21  Eastern white pine
    22  White pine-hemlock
    23  Eastern hemlock
    24  Hemlock-yellow birch
    35  Paper birch-red spruce-balsam fir
    37  Northern white-cedar
    51  White pine-chestnut oak
    63  Cottonwood
    95  Black willow
   107  White spruce
   201  White spruce
   202  White spruce-paper birch
   204  Black spruce
   205  Mountain hemlock
   206  Engelmann spruce-subalpine fir
   207  Red fir
   208  Whitebark pine
   209  Bristlecone pine
   212  Western larch
   213  Grand fir
   215  Western white pine
   218  Lodgepole pine
   219  Limber pine
   220  Rocky Mountain juniper
   223  Sitka spruce
   224  Western hemlock
   225  Western hemlock-Sitka spruce
   226  Coastal true fir-hemlock
   227  Western redcedar-western hemlock
   228  Western redcedar
   229  Pacific Douglas-fir
   230  Douglas-fir-western hemlock
   231  Port-Orford-cedar
   234  Douglas-fir-tanoak-Pacific madrone
   237  Interior ponderosa pine
   238  Western juniper
   243  Sierra Nevada mixed conifer
   244  Pacific ponderosa pine-Douglas-fir
   245  Pacific ponderosa pine
   251  White spruce-aspen
   253  Black spruce-white spruce
   254  Black spruce-paper birch
   256  California mixed subalpine


SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES : 
   101  Bluebunch wheatgrass
   102  Idaho fescue
   103  Green fescue
   104  Antelope bitterbrush-bluebunch wheatgrass
   105  Antelope bitterbrush-Idaho fescue
   106  Bluegrass scabland
   107  Western juniper/big sagebrush/bluebunch wheatgrass
   109  Ponderosa pine shrubland
   110  Ponderosa pine-grassland
   201  Blue oak woodland
   203  Riparian woodland
   206  Chamise chaparral
   207  Scrub oak mixed chaparral
   208  Ceanothus mixed chaparral
   209  Montane shrubland
   210  Bitterbrush
   211  Creosotebush scrub
   212  Blackbush
   301  Bluebunch wheatgrass-blue grama
   302  Bluebunch wheatgrass-Sandberg bluegrass
   303  Bluebunch wheatgrass-western wheatgrass
   304  Idaho fescue-bluebunch wheatgrass
   305  Idaho fescue-Richardson needlegrass
   306  Idaho fescue-slender wheatgrass
   307  Idaho fescue-threadleaf sedge
   309  Idaho fescue-western wheatgrass
   310  Needle-and-thread-blue grama
   311  Rough fescue-bluebunch wheatgrass
   312  Rough fescue-Idaho fescue
   314  Big sagebrush-bluebunch wheatgrass
   315  Big sagebrush-Idaho fescue
   316  Big sagebrush-rough fescue
   317  Bitterbrush-bluebunch wheatgrass
   318  Bitterbrush-Idaho fescue
   319  Bitterbrush-rough fescue
   320  Black sagebrush-bluebunch wheatgrass
   321  Black sagebrush-Idaho fescue
   322  Curlleaf mountain-mahogany-bluebunch wheatgrass
   323  Shrubby cinquefoil-rough fescue
   324  Threetip sagebrush-Idaho fescue
   401  Basin big sagebrush
   402  Mountain big sagebrush
   403  Wyoming big sagebrush
   404  Threetip sagebrush
   405  Black sagebrush
   406  Low sagebrush
   407  Stiff sagebrush
   408  Other sagebrush types
   409  Tall forb
   411  Aspen woodland
   412  Juniper-pinyon woodland
   413  Gambel oak
   414  Salt desert shrub
   415  Curlleaf mountain-mahogany
   416  True mountain-mahogany
   417  Littleleaf mountain-mahogany
   418  Bigtooth maple
   419  Bittercherry
   420  Snowbrush
   421  Chokecherry-serviceberry-rose
   422  Riparian
   501  Saltbush-greasewood
   502  Grama-galleta
   503  Arizona chaparral
   504  Juniper-pinyon pine woodland
   505  Grama-tobosa shrub
   506  Creosotebush-bursage
   507  Palo verde-cactus
   508  Creosotebush-tarbush
   509  Transition between oak-juniper woodland and mahogany-oak association
   601  Bluestem prairie
   602  Bluestem-prairie sandreed
   603  Prairie sandreed-needlegrass
   604  Bluestem-grama prairie
   605  Sandsage prairie
   606  Wheatgrass-bluestem-needlegrass
   607  Wheatgrass-needlegrass
   608  Wheatgrass-grama-needlegrass
   609  Wheatgrass-grama
   610  Wheatgrass
   611  Blue grama-buffalograss
   612  Sagebrush-grass
   614  Crested wheatgrass
   615  Wheatgrass-saltgrass-grama
   701  Alkali sacaton-tobosagrass
   702  Black grama-alkali sacaton
   703  Black grama-sideoats grama
   704  Blue grama-western wheatgrass
   705  Blue grama-galleta
   706  Blue grama-sideoats grama
   707  Blue grama-sideoats grama-black grama
   708  Bluestem-dropseed
   709  Bluestem-grama
   710  Bluestem prairie
   712  Galleta-alkali sacaton
   713  Grama-muhly-threeawn
   714  Grama-bluestem
   715  Grama-buffalograss
   716  Grama-feathergrass
   717  Little bluestem-Indiangrass-Texas wintergrass
   718  Mesquite-grama
   719  Mesquite-liveoak-seacoast bluestem
   720  Sand bluestem-little bluestem (dunes)
   721  Sand bluestem-little bluestem (plains)
   722  Sand sagebrush-mixed prairie
   724  Sideoats grama-New Mexico feathergrass-winterfat
   725  Vine mesquite-alkali sacaton
   727  Mesquite-buffalograss
   728  Mesquite-granjeno-acacia
   729  Mesquite
   730  Sand shinnery oak
   731  Cross timbers-Oklahoma
   732  Cross timbers-Texas (little bluestem-post oak)
   733  Juniper-oak
   734  Mesquite-oak
   801  Savanna
   802  Missouri prairie
   803  Missouri glades
   804  Tall fescue
   805  Riparian
   806  Gulf Coast salt marsh
   807  Gulf Coast fresh marsh
   809  Mixed hardwood and pine
   819  Freshwater marsh and ponds
   822  Slough


PLANT COMMUNITIES : 
Breeding Habitat:  The breeding habitat of rough-legged hawk is open
tundra and mountains; the southern limit of its breeding range coincides
with the latitudinal tree line [11,22].  Rough-legged hawks occasionally
nest in trees at the edge of boreal forest [22].  The rough-legged hawk
is not usually observed in forests, except where there is much open
ground.  Kochert [24] listed tundra and taiga as breeding habitat for
the rough-legged hawk.

Wintering Habitat:  The rough-legged hawk prefers conifer groves for
roosting and hunts in open, treeless areas [11].  Kochert [24] listed
rough-legged hawk wintering habitat as open shrub and grassland in
temperate areas.  Rough-legged-hawks were observed wintering in pinyon
(Pinus spp.)-juniper (Juniperus spp.) woodlands in the southwestern
United States [4].


REFERENCES : 
NO-ENTRY

Related categories for Wildlife Species: Buteo lagopus | Rough-Legged Hawk