{"id":14626,"date":"2014-03-26T05:25:26","date_gmt":"2014-03-26T11:25:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=14626"},"modified":"2026-01-15T11:32:43","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T17:32:43","slug":"the-courtship-and-copulation-of-a-pair-of-red-tailed-hawks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/03\/26\/the-courtship-and-copulation-of-a-pair-of-red-tailed-hawks\/","title":{"rendered":"The Courtship And Copulation Of A Pair Of Red-tailed Hawks"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"MaleMale Red-tailed Hawk about to mate with the female<\/span><\/p>\n

Yesterday I was able to see and photograph a pair of Red-tailed Hawks courting and copulating in Tooele County<\/span><\/a>, Utah. At first sighting both Red-tailed Hawks were at the top of the same juniper then the male flew up and mounted the female and they mated.<\/p>\n

I couldn’t tell if both birds were calling but there were definitely calls during the few seconds that they were copulating. The male then\u00a0flew off and left the female on the juniper.<\/p>\n

\"MaleMale Red-tailed Hawk spiraling towards the female<\/span><\/p>\n

Nine minutes later I saw the male floating towards the female and hoped to get more shots of the hawks mating. This image shows the male coming in from the east.<\/p>\n

\"Red-tailedRed-tailed Hawk courtship<\/span><\/p>\n

The male came in close to the female but this time the birds did not copulate and neither of them called out.<\/p>\n

The male fluttered above the female for a few seconds and then flapped his wings and flew south. I am not sure why copulation did not occur the second time but it may have been that the female did not signal to the male that she was receptive.<\/p>\n

The female stayed on the juniper for several minutes and then she too lifted off and flew to the south.<\/p>\n

I am disappointed that the angle of light was horrible and that I couldn’t get light in the male’s eyes during copulation or on his second attempt so I won’t bother to post my techs as these are just documentary images.<\/p>\n

Despite the cruddy image quality I was fascinated by the courtship and mating behaviors of these two Red-tailed Hawks. It sure would be wonderful to photograph this behavior again in better lighting conditions.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Red-tailed Hawk photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yesterday I was able to see and photograph a pair of Red-tailed Hawks courting and copulating in Tooele County, Utah. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":166842,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,449,1316,358,26],"tags":[4004,4021,2663,4170,2476,2419,4070,4052,7017,4169,3914,4062,4363,153,4209,10452,4210],"class_list":["post-14626","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-red-tailed-hawks","category-stansbury-mountains-utah","category-tooele-county","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-bird-photography","tag-birds-of-prey","tag-buteo-jamaicensis","tag-copulation","tag-courtship","tag-female","tag-flight","tag-foothills","tag-hawks","tag-juniper","tag-male","tag-mating","tag-raptors","tag-red-tailed-hawk","tag-sky-island-mountains","tag-stansbury-mountains"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-tailed-hawks-mating-utah-mia-mcpherson-9959.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-3NU","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":45879,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/03\/30\/pair-of-red-tailed-hawks-mating\/","url_meta":{"origin":14626,"position":0},"title":"Pair of Red-tailed Hawks Mating – A Wild 34 Seconds","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 30, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"What I didn't expect yesterday was that I would be able to photograph the Red-tailed Hawks mating on the lichen-covered outcropping but that is what happened","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Red-tailed Hawks copulating, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-tailed-hawks-mating-mia-mcpherson-2172.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-tailed-hawks-mating-mia-mcpherson-2172.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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two days I have been having an amazing time photographing a family of Red-tailed Hawks; including at least 4 juveniles, in Tooele County, Utah","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Immature Red-tailed Hawk in flight over the Stansbury Mountains, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/red-tailed-hawk-flight-mia-mcpherson-0679.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/red-tailed-hawk-flight-mia-mcpherson-0679.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/red-tailed-hawk-flight-mia-mcpherson-0679.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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Light","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 4, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"My favorite of the hawks I photographed in the West Desert yesterday was this adult Red-tailed Hawk on a fence post waiting for the morning light.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Red-tailed Hawk waiting for the morning light, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/red-tailed-hawk-before-dawns-light-mia-mcpherson-8034.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/red-tailed-hawk-before-dawns-light-mia-mcpherson-8034.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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