Swainson's Hawks and Alfalfa Seed

In this post we will look at some Swainson's Hawks in and around Alfalfa fields.

The map gives a perspective of the area with the alfalfa and raptors. It is about about 14 miles west from our home in Walla Walla and off McDonald Road south of Lowden. In this area they grow alfalfa and harvest a lot of alfalfa seed.

In early to mid September the fields are dry and the seed is harvested. It also happens to be the same time of year when the Swainson's Hawks are gathering to head south for the winter. The hawks can form very large groups called Kettles, by the birding folks, as they head south to Argentina, Brazil, and other warmer winter climates.

This is an image of a green, growing alfalfa field. The alfalfa is used for livestock feed along with a variety of other uses. Alfalfa means “father of all foods” in Arabic. Us humans even consume some of the alfalfa though just a small amount compared to the pigs, horses, goats, and dairy cows that devour it in large quantities.

Now the fields are dry and the seeds ready to harvest. Here is a large piece of equipment called a combine, it is essentially mowing the dried alfalfa and separating out the seed. The same piece of equipment is used for harvesting wheat.

Here is a Swainson's Hawk sitting on a power pole. This is fairly typical color markings for a Swainson's Hawk though as we will see they can come in a wide variety of coloration.

This image is of a dark morph Swainson's hawk sitting on a power pole. There are some number of poles in the area and they are great perches to watch for rodents moving away from the harvested seeds.

This image shows a Red-tail hawk. When they are soaring, such as here, you can easily tell the difference between the Red-tail and the Swainson's. The leading edge on the wing is called the patagial stripe, and on Red-tail hawks it is usually dark as in this image.

On the other hand this soaring Swainson's Hawk does not have such a marking and the front edge of the wings is not dark at all.

This is a young Swainson's Hawk as evidenced by the coloration. It will most likely change into a dark morph with the entire breast area appearing darker as seen in the earlier hawk image.

Another adult Swainson's Hawk. Typical in it's coloration though as we have seen there can be a lot of variety. The juveniles are often much lighter in coloration. In addition to the patagial stripe the Swainsón's has longer wings than the Red-tail and the Red-tail has different chest markings though in Red-tail hawks there can also be wide variations in coloration.

The harvesters are working the field to get the seeds while the raptors are busy harvesting the mice and other critters that are scurrying about. We counted about 63 hawks in a relatively small area and that was probably a low count. Lots of food is available and they will need it for the long journey south.

So with the dust kicking up and the seeds being harvested and all the raptors soaring around we decided to leave this magical, wonderful place. We are outta here.

We hope you enjoyed this look around at the raptors and the alfalfa seed harvest. It happens every year about the middle of September and is quite a treat to watch.

Let us know if you have any questions and stay safe
All best - George & Deanna