{"id":28899,"date":"2015-10-04T06:14:20","date_gmt":"2015-10-04T12:14:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=28899"},"modified":"2025-09-30T16:45:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-30T21:45:09","slug":"keeping-an-eye-on-the-sky-for-rough-legged-hawks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/10\/04\/keeping-an-eye-on-the-sky-for-rough-legged-hawks\/","title":{"rendered":"Keeping An Eye On The Sky For Rough-legged Hawks"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"MaleMale Rough-legged Hawk perched along the causeway – Nikon D810, f8, 1\/1000, ISO 400, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

It is early October but I am already starting to get excited about seeing my first of the season Rough-legged Hawks. In North America this arctic species breeds in the tundra and taiga of arctic and subarctic areas of Alaska and Canada and migrate to southern Canada and the northern United States for the winter. About mid to late October is when I usually see my first of the season Rough-legged Hawk.<\/p>\n

The beautiful male light-morph Rough-legged Hawk above was photographed in late January of 2015 perched along the Antelope Island Causeway.<\/p>\n

I’m not sure why I see far fewer males than females or juveniles in northern Utah but that has been the case each year I have observed and photographed them here in the Salt Lake Valley. Birds of North America Online<\/span><\/a> states:<\/p>\n

Limited evidence suggests that females winter farther north than males on average, although there is considerable overlap (Russell 1981, Olson and Arsenault 2000).<\/em><\/p>\n

Though I would love the opportunity to photograph more male Rough-legged Hawks I am always happy to see this buteo species through my viewfinder regardless of their sex.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

It is early October but I am already starting to get excited about seeing my first of the season Rough-legged Hawks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":158636,"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":[511,27,1022,1087,26],"tags":[4004,2663,4275,2497,464,5672,4005,4169,2386,2670,4062,530,6973,153,1648,373],"class_list":["post-28899","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-antelope-island-state-park","category-avian","category-davis-county-utah","category-rough-legged-hawks","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-birds-of-prey","tag-buteo-lagopus","tag-buteos","tag-causeway","tag-flats","tag-great-salt-lake","tag-hawks","tag-hawks-of-utah","tag-light-morph","tag-male","tag-migration","tag-playa","tag-raptors","tag-rough-legged-hawk","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/rough-legged-hawk-male-mia-mcpherson-5806.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-7w7","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":107524,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/10\/25\/rough-legged-hawk-season-has-begun\/","url_meta":{"origin":28899,"position":0},"title":"Rough-legged Hawk Season Has Begun","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 25, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Rough-legged Hawk season has begun in northern Utah. I spotted my first of season Rough-legged Hawks on the wing last Friday.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","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":"Male light morph Rough-legged Hawk on a February morning, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/rough-legged-hawk-adult-male-info-sign-mia-mcpherson-9795.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/rough-legged-hawk-adult-male-info-sign-mia-mcpherson-9795.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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McPherson","date":"February 15, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"It\u2019s February again, and that always brings this male light morph Rough-legged Hawk to my mind.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","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":"Adult male light morph Rough-legged Hawk close up, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/rough-legged-male-portrait-mia-mcpherson-7518.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/rough-legged-male-portrait-mia-mcpherson-7518.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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