Factors Affecting the Use of Hunting Sites by Ferruginous Hawks

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Abstract
The spatial distribution of the food-searching efforts of 2 adult male ferruginous hawks [Butco regalis] in Idaho [USA] was studied by direct observation during the nesting seasons of 1974 and 1975. The birds'' home ranges consisted of 21.7 and 17.2 km2 of agricultural land with heterogeneous vegetation. The hawks hunted significantly more in areas that contained little or no vegetative cover, and hunted in all other vegetation types less, with the single exception of dense cover in 1975. In general, foraging patterns were not related to prey density. Previous experience was important in the hawks'' choice of hunting areas, in that both birds tended to return directly to the sites of their last prey captures.