19 inches long with a 51 inch wingspan. The Swainson’s Hawk is a big bodied hawk. The wings and tail are broad but the wings are relatively long and taper noticeably at the tip. There are three color phases (morphs). The most common in our area is the light phase. The adult has a gray-brown head and a white chin patch with a reddish breast and white belly. The back and upperwing are brown. The tail is dark above and pale below with narrow dark bars. The flight feathers are dark with faint barring and contrast with the white underwing. Most of the other big bodied hawks in our area have the reverse underwing pattern with a dark under wing and light flight feathers as opposed to the pattern on the Swainson’s. The dark phase has a dark brown head, back and upperwing. The underwing is rufous. The breast is deep reddish brown with brownish barring. The intermediate phase is between the dark and light phase with a white chin and the belly is redder.