{"id":15734,"date":"2014-08-30T06:05:28","date_gmt":"2014-08-30T12:05:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=15734"},"modified":"2026-01-15T13:16:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T19:16:09","slug":"fighting-red-tailed-hawk-juveniles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/08\/30\/fighting-red-tailed-hawk-juveniles\/","title":{"rendered":"Fighting Red-tailed Hawk Juveniles"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-133011 size-full\" title=\"Fighting Red-tailed Hawk juveniles\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/red-tailed-hawk-juveniles-mia-mcpherson-1830.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/red-tailed-hawk-juveniles-mia-mcpherson-1830.jpg\" alt=\"Fighting Red-tailed Hawk juveniles, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah\" width=\"850\" height=\"519\" data-id=\"15733\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27850%27%20height%3D%27519%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%20850%20519%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%27850%27%20height%3D%27519%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/red-tailed-hawk-juveniles-mia-mcpherson-1830-200x122.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/red-tailed-hawk-juveniles-mia-mcpherson-1830-250x153.jpg 250w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/red-tailed-hawk-juveniles-mia-mcpherson-1830-300x183.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/red-tailed-hawk-juveniles-mia-mcpherson-1830-400x244.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/red-tailed-hawk-juveniles-mia-mcpherson-1830-600x366.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/red-tailed-hawk-juveniles-mia-mcpherson-1830-768x469.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/red-tailed-hawk-juveniles-mia-mcpherson-1830-800x488.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/red-tailed-hawk-juveniles-mia-mcpherson-1830.jpg 850w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 850px) 100vw, 850px\" \/><span style=\"color: #808080;\">Fighting Red-tailed Hawk juveniles &#8211; Nikon D810, f7.1, 1\/2000, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n<p>While photographing a juvenile Red-tailed Hawk that was perched on a post yesterday I could hear an American Kestrel calling above.<\/p>\n<p>When my subject looked up and started acting defensive I thought the kestrel was flying in but instead another juvenile red-tailed flew in to fight over the perch.<\/p>\n<p>The action came as a surprise and though I wish the light had been a bit better but I still like the interaction between the two fighting Red-tailed Hawk juveniles.<\/p>\n<p>It is possible that these two juveniles are siblings, but it is just as possible that they aren&#8217;t, so I won&#8217;t speculate on that.<\/p>\n<p>The skirmish only lasted a few seconds, the perched Red-tailed Hawk juvenile flew off and the attacking juvenile landed on the ground below the perch and promptly flew off to chase the other juvenile. Their &#8220;fight&#8221; actually seemed to be less fight and more play.<\/p>\n<p>I wonder if these two juvenile <a href=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/guide\/Red-tailed_Hawk\/lifehistory\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Red-tailed Hawks<\/span><\/a> will hang around for the winter, I sure hope so.<\/p>\n<p>Mia<\/p>\n<p>Click <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/red-tailed-hawk-images\/\">here<\/a><\/span> to see more of my Red-tailed Hawk photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I wonder if these two juvenile Red-tailed Hawks will hang around for the winter, I sure hope so. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":133011,"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":[27,697,449,26],"tags":[2653,4170,3981,4337,4052,4033,4169,2386,4067,4071,4094,4035,4209,4032,4193],"class_list":["post-15734","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-farmington-bay-wma","category-red-tailed-hawks","category-utah","tag-bird-of-prey","tag-buteo-jamaicensis","tag-davis-county","tag-fighting","tag-flight","tag-hawk","tag-hawks","tag-hawks-of-utah","tag-immature","tag-juvenile","tag-marsh","tag-nature-photography","tag-red-tailed-hawk","tag-wildlife-photography","tag-young"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/red-tailed-hawk-juveniles-mia-mcpherson-1830.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-45M","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":53123,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/07\/17\/sibling-red-tailed-hawk-juveniles-perched-on-the-wing\/","url_meta":{"origin":15734,"position":0},"title":"Sibling Red-tailed Hawk Juveniles Perched &#038; On The Wing","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 17, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Back in March of this year I started watching and photographing a pair of Red-tailed Hawks in the process of building their nest on the face of a high cliff, these two juveniles are the results of the hard work of that pair of hawks.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Red-tailed Hawk juvenile in flight at eye level, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-flight-mia-mcpherson-4853.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-hawk-juvenile-flight-mia-mcpherson-4853.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-flight-mia-mcpherson-4853.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-flight-mia-mcpherson-4853.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9605,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/09\/27\/red-tailed-hawk-juveniles-on-the-wing\/","url_meta":{"origin":15734,"position":1},"title":"Red-tailed Hawk Juveniles On The Wing","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 27, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"One of the Red-tailed Hawk juveniles I photographed on Antelope Island last year has \"migrated\" to Switzerland where my photo of it will be featured on a 5 x 15 meter billboard for a yacht company.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Antelope Island State Park&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Red-tailed Hawk juvenile flying on an autumn day, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-7507.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-7507.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-7507.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-7507.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6705,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/12\/04\/photographing-red-tailed-hawk-juvies-on-the-wing\/","url_meta":{"origin":15734,"position":2},"title":"Photographing Red-tailed Hawk Juveniles On The Wing","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 4, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"These are a just few images that I have edited taken since August of Red-tailed Hawk juveniles on Antelope Island State Park.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Antelope Island State Park&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Red-tailed juvenile landing on a rock outcropping, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-landing-mia-mcpherson-9128.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-landing-mia-mcpherson-9128.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-landing-mia-mcpherson-9128.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-landing-mia-mcpherson-9128.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8516,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/06\/04\/red-tailed-hawks-buteo-jamaicensis\/","url_meta":{"origin":15734,"position":3},"title":"Red-tailed Hawks &#8211; Buteo Jamaicensis","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 4, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Buteos are medium to large hawks with broad wings, wide bodies and short tails that soar in wide lazy circles and most often hunt from a high perch from which they drop down to their prey.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Beaverhead County&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Beaverhead County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/montana\/beaverhead-county-montana\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult Red-tailed Hawk in flight with prey, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/red-tailed-hawk-adult-mia-mcpherson-7072.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/red-tailed-hawk-adult-mia-mcpherson-7072.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/red-tailed-hawk-adult-mia-mcpherson-7072.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/red-tailed-hawk-adult-mia-mcpherson-7072.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":125754,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/03\/24\/immature-red-tailed-hawk-in-spring-at-bear-river-mbr\/","url_meta":{"origin":15734,"position":4},"title":"Immature Red-tailed Hawk In Spring At Bear River MBR","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 24, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"About two years ago, I photographed this immature Red-tailed Hawk near the Bear River, on my way out of the auto tour loop of Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Spring immature Red-tailed Hawk in grasses, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/red-tailed-hawk-on-the-ground-mia-mcpherson-5657.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-on-the-ground-mia-mcpherson-5657.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/red-tailed-hawk-on-the-ground-mia-mcpherson-5657.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/red-tailed-hawk-on-the-ground-mia-mcpherson-5657.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":42065,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/09\/21\/juvenile-red-tailed-hawk-on-a-lichen-covered-boulder-in-idaho\/","url_meta":{"origin":15734,"position":5},"title":"Juvenile Red-tailed Hawk On A Lichen Covered Boulder In Idaho","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 21, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"When I found this juvenile Red-tailed Hawk on a lichen covered boulder in Idaho I took a little over 160 frames of it.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Juvenile Red-tailed Hawk on a lichen covered boulder, Clark County, Idaho","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-rock-mia-mcpherson-2054.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-rock-mia-mcpherson-2054.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-rock-mia-mcpherson-2054.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-rock-mia-mcpherson-2054.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15734","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15734"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15734\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/133011"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15734"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15734"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15734"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}