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Bird

Rough-legged Hawk

Buteo lagopus

A winter visitor to Virginia, found in 102 of 133 counties and cities and 9 habitats.

Here
Winter
Nesting
Not known to nest here
Range
102 of 133 counties and cities
Habitats
9

At a glance

Group
Birds
Here
Winter
Nesting
Not known to nest here
Range
102 of 133 counties and cities
Habitats
9
Habitat models
Winter

Where it lives

The places its habitat model includes. It is not found everywhere a habitat occurs.

Habitats in Virginia 9

Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

1 of 9

Coastal dunes and beaches

Core Banks dunes, June 2013
WinterAtlantic Coastal Plain Northern Sandy Beach; Unconsolidated Shore (Beach/Dune); Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain Interdunal WetlandDune grassland. Shown: Core Banks, Cape Lookout, North Carolina, a neighboring state.Core Banks dunes, June 2013, Jarek Tuszyński, June 2013. CC BY-SA 3.0. Source record.

Mountain balds

Andrews Bald, Forney Ridge Trail, July 2020
WinterSouthern Appalachian Grass and Shrub Bald - Shrub Modifier; Southern Appalachian Grass and Shrub Bald - Herbaceous ModifierGrassy mountain bald with shrub islands. Shown: Andrews Bald, Forney Ridge Trail, Swain County, North Carolina, a neighboring state.Andrews Bald, Forney Ridge Trail, July 2020, Andrea Walton / Great Smoky Mountains National Park, July 2020. Public domain. Source record.

Salt and brackish marshes

Fort Fisher brackish marsh and woodland edge
WinterAtlantic Coastal Plain Embayed Region Tidal Salt and Brackish Marsh; Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Tidal Salt MarshBrackish marsh at a woodland edge. Shown: Fort Fisher, North Carolina, a neighboring state.Fort Fisher brackish marsh and woodland edge, ncwetlands.org, undated. CC0 1.0. Source record.

Coastal tidal marshes (salinity not stated)

Tidal marshes of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts where the source does not say whether the water is fresh, brackish or salt. A stated salinity files the marsh under freshwater tidal marshes or salt and brackish marshes instead.

Winter

Floodplain and bottomland forests

Forests on low ground beside rivers and streams that flood from time to time.

WinterSouth-Central Interior Large Floodplain

Freshwater tidal marshes

Marshes along tidal rivers where the water is fresh but rises and falls with the tide.

WinterAtlantic Coastal Plain Embayed Region Tidal Freshwater Marsh; Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Fresh and Oligohaline Tidal Marsh

Granite and other acidic rock outcrops

Bare or thin-soil rock on granite, gneiss, sandstone, quartzite and similar acidic rock, including granite flatrocks and domes.

WinterNorth-Central Appalachian Acidic Cliff and Talus

Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground

Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.

WinterDeveloped, Open Space; Cultivated Cropland; Pasture/Hay; Disturbed/Successional - Grass/Forb Regeneration; Utility Swath - Herbaceous; Disturbed, Non-specific; Ruderal Upland - Old Field

Shale barrens

Steep, sun-baked slopes of loose shale with sparse oaks and Virginia pine and their own endemic wildflowers. Linked only where the source names shale barrens; calcareous shale stays with the limestone glades.

Winter
Other habitats in its models (35)

Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in Virginia.

  • Barren Land Winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Beach Winter.
  • Unconsolidated Shore (Lake/River/Pond) Winter.
  • Unconsolidated Shore Winter.
  • Central Interior Calcareous Cliff and Talus Winter.
  • Central Interior Acidic Cliff and Talus Winter.
  • North-Central Appalachian Circumneutral Cliff and Talus Winter.
  • Central Interior Highlands Dry Acidic Glade and Barrens Winter.
  • Central Interior Highlands Calcareous Glade and Barrens Winter.
  • Central Mixedgrass Prairie Winter.
  • North-Central Interior Sand and Gravel Tallgrass Prairie Winter.
  • Central Tallgrass Prairie Winter.
  • Southern Blackland Tallgrass Prairie Winter.
  • Southeastern Great Plains Tallgrass Prairie Winter.
  • West Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Calcareous Prairie Winter.
  • West Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Calcareous Prairie Winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Dune and Maritime Grassland Winter.
  • Central and Upper Texas Coast Dune and Coastal Grassland Winter.
  • Recently Logged Areas Winter.
  • Harvested Forest - Grass/Forb Regeneration Winter.
  • Recently Burned Winter.
  • Recently Burned Forest Winter.
  • Recently Burned Grassland Winter.
  • Introduced Upland Vegetation - Forbland Winter.
  • Introduced Upland Vegetation - Annual Grassland Winter.
  • Introduced Upland Vegetation - Perennial Grassland Winter.
  • Introduced Upland Vegetation - Perennial Grassland and Forbland Winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Central Salt and Brackish Tidal Marsh Winter.
  • Mississippi Sound Salt and Brackish Tidal Marsh Winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Herbaceous Wetland Winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Central Fresh-Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Winter.
  • Eastern Great Plains Wet Meadow, Prairie, and Marsh Winter.
  • South-Central Interior Large Floodplain - Herbaceous Modifier Winter.
  • Eastern Great Plains Floodplain Systems Winter.
  • Cumberland Riverscour Winter.

All habitats

Seasons in Virginia

  • Winter: does not nest here, in 102 of 133 counties and cities.

Also found in this habitat

Plants 546

Plants named in NatureServe descriptions of these habitats that grow in Virginia. Shared habitat, not food.

Wildlife 254

Other animals whose habitat models include the same habitats in Virginia. Not sighting records.

NatureServe Explorer, CC BY 4.0. USGS Gap Analysis Project habitat models.

Sources