Swainson's Hawks return to nesting grounds after pesticide crisis
July 17, 2026
are nesting across the sagebrush basin again — eight sightings since June mark a quiet but significant return. The presence of breeding birds here is a measure of hard-won recovery from the 1990s, when tens of thousands died from Argentine pesticide poisoning on their wintering grounds. That those years are no longer the standard narrative is real progress.Streamflow hovering near 10 cubic feet per second this week concentrates aquatic and ground-dwelling prey along wet draws and seeps, creating feeding corridors that likely support nesting adults hunting for their young. The hawks' recovery and current breeding activity depend on these interlinked pieces: stable prey availability, remnant sagebrush structure, and — crucially — the cessation of the pesticides that nearly erased them from this landscape.
