The Swainson's Hawk may be largely insectivorous except when nesting. Insect prey commonly taken includes grasshoppers, crickets, and locusts. Pairs bring vertebrate prey to their nestlings, relying heavily upon small mammals such as young ground squirrels (Saskatchewan) and young cottontails (southeastern New Mexico), and pocket gophers, mice, young jack rabbits, and, at least locally, small birds and other vertebrates including reptiles and amphibians. Birds taken include large birds such as Mallards, and Sage Grouse which may have been injured initially. Other unusual bird species include American Kestrel, and young Short-eared Owls. More typical in size are young Lark Buntings taken at their fledging time (Colorado). Reptiles, which can comprise large parts of a diet, include snakes such as racers, gopher snakes and striped whipsnakes, and lizards. Amphibians taken include tiger salamanders and toads. The Swainson's Hawk is an opportunistic feeder which responds quickly to local concentrations of food. Its habit of gorging on outbreaks of crickets and grasshoppers has earned it the popular name "Grasshopper Hawk".
In Argentina, flocks of immature Swainson's Hawks feed on flocks of the migratory dragonfly Aeshna bonariensis, nomadically following the hordes of insects and feeding mostly on the wing. Local outbreaks of locusts may also be exploited for food by one or more age-classes of birds. The immatures wintering in southern Florida apparently feed upon either insects, mice, or both, when turned up from field ploughing. They move from one freshly ploughed field to the next.
There is also some evidence that road-killed birds and animals are also consumed both on the wintering grounds and on the breeding grounds. The species commonly follows tractors and other agricultural equipment during haying or ploughing, where rodents are exposed for the hawks to capture, or insects are uncovered after crop cutting. The Swainson's Hawk is also attracted to hunt the edges of prairie wildfires.
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