The ferruginous hawk is North America's largest buteonine hawk, dependent on open grassland and shrub-steppe habitats whose welfare is threatened by agricultural conversion and prairie dog decline.
Loss of prairie dog colonies through poisoning campaigns removes a critical food source, causing nutritional stress and breeding failure. Agricultural conversion of native grassland eliminates both nesting and foraging habitat. Power line electrocution is a significant mortality cause in areas where hawks perch on electrical infrastructure. Wind energy development poses collision risks in some parts of the range.