{"id":32398,"date":"2015-11-11T05:25:37","date_gmt":"2015-11-11T12:25:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=32398"},"modified":"2026-01-16T07:15:26","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T13:15:26","slug":"red-tailed-hawks-do-perch-on-wires","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/11\/11\/red-tailed-hawks-do-perch-on-wires\/","title":{"rendered":"Red-tailed Hawks Do Perch On Wires"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AdultAdult Red-tailed Hawk perched on a wire – Nikon D810, f7.1, 1\/1000, ISO 400, +1.0 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Last December my friend Jerry Liguori wrote a post for Hawkwatch International<\/a><\/span> about using the terms “Always” and “Never” in regards to bird ID and used the example of an often heard phrase that “Red-tailed Hawks never sit on wires”.<\/p>\n

That phrase is certainly not accurate and he showed that by sharing three images of Red-tailed Hawks sitting on wires. I thought his post was great because one of my mantras concerning bird photography is to “expect the unexpected” and that has served me well.<\/p>\n

The Red-tailed Hawk perched on a wire above was photographed in Utah County on November 9, 2014 and I was simply hoping for a take off shot or two when I took the image of this hawk perched on the wire.<\/p>\n

\"JuvenileJuvenile Red-tailed Hawk perched on a wire – Nikon D810, f7.1, 1\/1000, ISO 400, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited <\/span><\/p>\n

This juvenile Red-tailed Hawk perched on a wire was taken on September 21, 2015 also in Utah County and as a crow flies it was probably about two miles southeast of where the adult in the first image was photographed.<\/p>\n

I think it is interesting that in both locations the Red-tailed Hawks could have perched on top of the power poles or the cross bars of the power poles or on top of junipers that were nearby but used the wires instead.<\/p>\n

I know that I have also heard that Red-tailed Hawks won’t perch in on the thinnest branches on top of trees like Rough-legged Hawks do, but<\/em> I have also seen Red-tailed Hawks on thin branches.<\/p>\n

In the field though I can say it is probably<\/em> a Rough-legged Hawk because it is perched high up on a thin branch as a preliminary ID but until I see some other ID keys or scope the bird out with my lens I am hesitant to confirm my ID.<\/p>\n

There are always exceptions. So yes, Red-tailed Hawks do sit on wires and that is one rule of birding to discount.<\/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":"

There are always exceptions. So yes, Red-tailed Hawks do sit on wires and that is one rule of birding to discount. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":166944,"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":[27,449,26,1592],"tags":[4004,970,4226,2663,4170,4098,4620,4033,4169,2386,4067,17073,4719,11852,153,4209,4018,2391,4193],"class_list":["post-32398","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-red-tailed-hawks","category-utah","category-utah-county-utah","tag-adult","tag-autumn","tag-behavior","tag-birds-of-prey","tag-buteo-jamaicensis","tag-desert","tag-fall","tag-hawk","tag-hawks","tag-hawks-of-utah","tag-immature","tag-jerry-liguori","tag-perched-on-wires","tag-ranchlands","tag-raptors","tag-red-tailed-hawk","tag-sky","tag-wires","tag-young"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-tailed-hawk-adult-wire-mia-mcpherson-8235.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-8qy","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":45984,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/04\/04\/red-tailed-hawks-on-cliff-faces\/","url_meta":{"origin":32398,"position":0},"title":"Red-tailed Hawks On Cliff Faces","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 4, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"I appreciate it when I can photograph Red-tailed Hawks on Cliff faces well away from the man made objects including power poles and wires, fence posts and barbed wire","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Red-tailed Hawk on a lichen covered cliff face, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-tailed-hawk-lichen-cliff-face-mia-mcpherson-8841.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-lichen-cliff-face-mia-mcpherson-8841.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/montana\/beaverhead-county-montana\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":47649,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/07\/11\/five-different-centennial-valley-red-tailed-hawks\/","url_meta":{"origin":32398,"position":2},"title":"Five Different Centennial Valley Red-tailed Hawks","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 11, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Red-tailed Hawks were my most photographed species yesterday morning in the Centennial Valley of southwestern Montana and I had fun with them.","rel":"","context":"In "Beaverhead County"","block_context":{"text":"Beaverhead County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/montana\/beaverhead-county-montana\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Post-poop look from a Red-tailed Hawk, Centennial Valley, Beaverhead County, Montana","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-tailed-hawk-adult-post-poop-mia-mcpherson-9264.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-adult-post-poop-mia-mcpherson-9264.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-tailed-hawk-adult-post-poop-mia-mcpherson-9264.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-tailed-hawk-adult-post-poop-mia-mcpherson-9264.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":107573,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/10\/28\/desert-red-tailed-hawk-photos\/","url_meta":{"origin":32398,"position":3},"title":"Desert Red-tailed Hawk Photos","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 28, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"While I was up in far northern Utah looking for birds last week, I took quite a few Red-tailed Hawk photos. I shared one image a few days ago and here are a few more.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Immature Red-tailed Hawk taking off from a cliff, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/red-tailed-hawk-immature-desert-mia-mcpherson-2032.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-immature-desert-mia-mcpherson-2032.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/red-tailed-hawk-immature-desert-mia-mcpherson-2032.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/red-tailed-hawk-immature-desert-mia-mcpherson-2032.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":42243,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/09\/27\/red-tailed-hawk-nesting-maintenance-behavior-in-the-fall\/","url_meta":{"origin":32398,"position":4},"title":"Red-tailed Hawk Nesting Maintenance Behavior in the Fall","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 27, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"I enjoyed seeing the Red-tailed Hawks yesterday and observing their nesting maintenance behavior in the Fall, I don't see it very often so it makes it special to me.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult Red-tailed Hawk in its nest in the Fall, Box Elder County, 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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, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/red-tailed-hawk-before-dawns-light-mia-mcpherson-8034.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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