Juvenile Red-tailed Hawk perched on an old fence rail – Nikon D300, f6.3, 1/1250, ISO 400, -03 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited
On my mid-July journey to southwestern Montana it seemed like there were juvenile hawks every where I looked, the east and west side of the Centennial Valley and the south and north sides too. Although I did see and photograph juvenile Swainson’s Hawks, it was the Red-tailed Hawk juveniles that seemed to be the most abundant during the entire trip. Red-tailed Hawks hunt by perching on posts, fences and elevated perches and sometimes by kiting. It is fun to watch the juveniles looking for prey on the ground, diving for the prey, and waiting to see if they caught or missed it.
Juvenile Red-tailed Hawk, Beaverhead County, Montana – Nikon D300, f6.3, 1/1000, ISO 400, -03 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited
When I first came across this juvenile Red-tailed Hawk it was perched with another juvie on the top rail of an old fence. Not long after getting there this juvenile Red-tailed dove towards the ground very close to the fence and came back up onto the rails with empty talons.
For about 15 minutes the young hawk stayed on the rail looking around for more prey and then it lifted off (back to me of course!) to perch on a post that was further away from the road. On the way back the young Buteo was still on the pole so I wasn’t able to get any more images that were closer than these.
Life is good.
Mia
Click here to see more of my Red-tailed Hawk photos plus facts and information about this species.
I’ll never forget the time I witnessed a mating display in the air… It was startling as well as ear-splitting.
Red-tailed Hawks can be very loud!
We have a large population of red-tails in our area. It seems one is always flying over my head. I love the way you got the feathering in the first photo… and the second was telling in its motion. Very nice.
Merrill, Red-tails are such great birds, I love it when they fly overhead. Thanks for commenting
Great shots,
Thank you Earl!
I love my daily visit to your site Mia – thank you for sharing your thoughts and images.
Thank you Kim, I love that you visit often.
I love your hawk images. I’m not the best bird photographer, but hopefully when I purchase a new lens soon I’ll give it a more serious try. Carol
Carol, you’ll work at bird photography and get addicted, I sure did! Thanks for commenting.
Great photos Mia. Hawks always look like they are ‘on a mission’ 😉
Stu, hawks always look so serious to me, unlike Burrowing Owls who can quite often appear clownish! Thanks for commenting.
Lovely photos as usual Mia! Love the feather detail.
Thank you Linda!
Great shots, Mia. I never get enough of the red-tails. Fun to watch and extra fun to photograph.
Thank you Bob, I never get enough of Red-tailed Hawks either.
Nice eye contact and the side pose allows us to see the streaked breast and feather detail.
Thank you Julie.