Habitat
Primarily in high subarctic and arctic latitudes in boreal forests, low-lying boreal forest-tundra ecotones, and in tundra (Sealy 1966, White and Cade 1971, Calef and Heard 1979, Kuyt 1980, Mindell 1983, Poole and Bromley 1988, Kessel 1989, Ritchie 1991). In Alaska, hunts over bogs and other clearings (Mindell 1983). Nests on coastal, riverine, or upland cliffs. May nest in trees (Harwood pers. comm. in Bechard and Swem 2002).
References
Bechard, M. J. and T. R. Swem. 2002. Rough-legged Hawk (Buteo lagopus). In The Birds of North America, Vol. 7, No. 641 (A. Poole and F. Gill, Eds.). Philadelphia: The Academy of Natural Sciences; Washington, D.C.: The American Ornithologists’ Union.
Calef, G. W. and D. C. Heard. 1979. Reproductive success of Peregrine Falcons and other raptors at Wager Bay and Melville Peninsula, Northwest Territories. Auk 96:662-674.
Kessel, B. 1989. Birds of the Seward Peninsula, Alaska: their biogeography, seasonality, and natural history. Univ. of Alaska Press, Fairbanks, AK. 330 pp.
Kuyt, E. 1980. Distribution and breeding biology of raptors in the Thelon River Area, Northwest Territories, 1957-1969. Canadian Field-Naturalist 94:121-130.
Mindell, D. P. 1983. Nesting raptors in southwestern Alaska: status, distribution, and aspects of biology. USDI, BLM, Alaska Tech. Rep. 8. Anchorage, AK.
Poole, K. G. and R. G. Bromley. 1988. Interrelationships within a raptor guild in the central Canadian Arctic. Canadian Journal of Zoology 66:2275-2282.
Ritchie, R. J. 1991. Effects of oil development on providing nesting opportunities for Gyrfalcons and Rough-legged Hawks in northern Alaska. Condor 93:180-184.
Sealy, S. G. 1966. Notes on the Rough-legged Hawk in the Perry River Region, Northwest Territories. Blue Jay 24:127-128.
White, C. M. and T. J. Cade. 1971. Cliff nesting raptors and ravens along the Colville River in arctic Alaska. Living Bird 10: 107-150.
