You can use it for research or reference. To access the current information, please visit NatureCounts - The State of Canada’s Birds (external link).
The only survey that currently monitors Rough-legged Hawk numbers well in Canada is the Christmas Bird Count (CBC). The Winter Raptor Survey, which began in 2007, has the potential to provide information in the future once it accumulates enough data to produce trends. Although the CBC results for North America include birds that breed in Alaska, the majority breed in Canada, so these results likely represent the Canadian breeding population. CBC results for North America suggest little overall change in the population relative to about 1970. Interestingly, CBC results from Canada, despite having a smaller sample size, indicate an increase in abundance of wintering birds by about 90% since 1970. There appears to be a latitudinal gradient in Rough-legged Hawk trends across North America, a possible indicator that the species may be shifting its wintering range poleward due to climate change: decreases in the southern United States, little change across the centre of the United States, and increases across southern Canada (Meehan et al. 2018). This pattern has also been documented in other species (Sorte and Thompson 2007). Because the Rough-legged Hawk was persecuted in the early part of the 20th century (Farmer et al. 2008), resulting in low levels of abundance at the start of monitoring efforts, and its historical abundance remains unknown, a specific management goal relative to 1970 has not yet been set. However, with a relatively stable population trend, the Rough-legged Hawk's current population in Canada is at an acceptable level (see North America graph below).
Additional information on: Christmas Bird Count (CBC)
