With the wings extended there is a white window near the wrist on the upper surface of the wing. The back and shoulders are rufous with the remaining upperparts grayish black. The head is a pale gray or dark brown with eye stripes, and a white patch on each cheek. Immature birds of the light morph lack much of the rufous markings on the undersides of the wings and have whitish, not rufous, feathers on their legs. The upper surface of the tail has a white base with large black spots and a grayish terminal band.
Fledglings have rufous chests that fade by fall.
The adult and fledglings of the dark morph of the ferruginous hawk have the same coloration. Most of the body is dark with a light-colored tail and light areas on the upper and lower surfaces of the wings. Generally, they avoid high elevations, narrow canyons, and interior regions of forests. Trees, utility poles and towers, fence posts, rocky outcrops, cliffs, and the ground are perching substrates used by ferruginous hawks. They also will winter near cultivated fields that have an abundance of pocket gophers.