{"id":39146,"date":"2016-05-04T05:02:05","date_gmt":"2016-05-04T11:02:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=39146"},"modified":"2025-07-02T07:07:58","modified_gmt":"2025-07-02T12:07:58","slug":"flying-northern-harrier-in-a-post-defecation-pose","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/05\/04\/flying-northern-harrier-in-a-post-defecation-pose\/","title":{"rendered":"Flying Northern Harrier in a Post-defecation Pose"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’ve mentioned before that one of the behaviors about raptors that I pay attention to is them defecating while perched because it often means that the raptor is going to take flight.<\/p>\n

\"NorthernMale Northern Harrier defecating in flight – Nikon D810, f6.3, 1\/2000, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

Raptors and other birds don’t just defecate while perched though, they will also defecate while they are in flight which is why in my very popular article “So ya think ya want to be a bird photographer?<\/span><\/a>” that:<\/p>\n

When photographing birds flying directly over your head be sure to keep your mouth closed as you never know when they might decide to flush out their systems.<\/em><\/p>\n

Now I have never had a bird defecate on me but I watched a Northern Mockingbird poop on my sister when we were young and found it quite funny. I know she didn’t think it was funny at all. Still, I am careful underneath of birds in flight for a reason. Especially big birds.<\/p>\n

Yesterday while photographing birds and swatting blood sucking mosquitoes away from my skin I saw a male Northern Harrier coming my direction and got ready to take images of it in flight.<\/p>\n

It took me a bit to get ready between swatting a skeeter and turning my limiter back on before I could get my lens out the window so the harrier was quite close at that point.<\/p>\n

So just as I focus on the on the bird he decides to defecate in flight and my image shows the Northern Harrier in a post-defecation pose. Not a great photo, the shadows under the bird aren’t wonderful but I like the direct, almost piercing, eye contact and how the harrier pulled its feet up close to its body. When I saw this image on my camera LCD I couldn’t help but laugh out loud.<\/p>\n

At least the poop didn’t land on my head or worse, my lens.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good. Life is better with a sense of humor.<\/p>\n

Alright, I need to go get ready to feed<\/del> swat the mosquitoes again.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

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

So just as I focus on the on the bird he decides to defecate in flight and my image shows the Northern Harrier in a post-defecation pose. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":149752,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_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":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27,1148,348,26],"tags":[2663,765,5135,4052,2783,3164,4033,4169,4062,4006,3917,153],"class_list":["post-39146","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-northern-harriers","category-utah","tag-birds-of-prey","tag-circus-hudsonius","tag-defecating","tag-flight","tag-harrier","tag-harriers","tag-hawk","tag-hawks","tag-male","tag-northern-harrier","tag-pooping","tag-raptors"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/northern-harrier-post-poop-mia-mcpherson-4769.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-abo","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":119554,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/01\/07\/northern-harrier-my-first-raptor-of-2024\/","url_meta":{"origin":39146,"position":0},"title":"Northern Harrier – My First Raptor of 2024","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 7, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"The first raptor I photographed in 2024 was this young male Northern Harrier that I found near the refuge auto tour loop at Bear River MBR on New Year's Day.","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":"Young male Northern Harrier on the wing, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/northern-harrier-immature-male-mia-mcpherson-1071.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/northern-harrier-immature-male-mia-mcpherson-1071.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/northern-harrier-immature-male-mia-mcpherson-1071.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/northern-harrier-immature-male-mia-mcpherson-1071.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":108182,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/11\/22\/male-northern-harrier-photo\/","url_meta":{"origin":39146,"position":1},"title":"Male Northern Harrier Photo","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 22, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"I'd like this photo of a male Northern Harrier more if there weren't camping trailers from a duck hunting club near the auto loop of Bear River MBR behind him.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird 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Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/northern-harrier-immature-male-in-flight-mia-mcpherson-3399.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/northern-harrier-immature-male-in-flight-mia-mcpherson-3399.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/northern-harrier-immature-male-in-flight-mia-mcpherson-3399.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/northern-harrier-immature-male-in-flight-mia-mcpherson-3399.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":118923,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/12\/12\/immature-female-northern-harrier\/","url_meta":{"origin":39146,"position":3},"title":"Immature Female Northern Harrier","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 12, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Today I am sharing three photos of an immature female Northern Harrier that I took ten years ago at Farmington Bay WMA.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Immature female Northern Harrier scanning the marsh while in flight, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/northern-harrier-immature-female-winter-mia-mcpherson-9180.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/northern-harrier-immature-female-winter-mia-mcpherson-9180.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/northern-harrier-immature-female-winter-mia-mcpherson-9180.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/northern-harrier-immature-female-winter-mia-mcpherson-9180.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":119320,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/12\/25\/christmas-day-young-northern-harrier-on-the-wing\/","url_meta":{"origin":39146,"position":4},"title":"Christmas Day Young Northern Harrier On The Wing","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 25, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"On this Christmas morning, I am sharing a photo of a young female Northern Harrier in flight that I took exactly three years ago at Farmington Bay WMA.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Christmas Day young Northern Harrier, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/northern-harrier-hatch-year-female-flight-mia-mcpherson-2819.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/northern-harrier-hatch-year-female-flight-mia-mcpherson-2819.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/northern-harrier-hatch-year-female-flight-mia-mcpherson-2819.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/northern-harrier-hatch-year-female-flight-mia-mcpherson-2819.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":17811,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/12\/16\/eye-level-northern-harrier\/","url_meta":{"origin":39146,"position":5},"title":"Eye Level Northern Harrier","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 16, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"I love to photograph birds in flight and it doesn't matter which species it is. But I do thoroughly enjoy photographing raptors like this Northern Harrier as they fly by.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Eye level Northern Harrier, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/northern-harrier-eye-level-mia-mcpherson-5033.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/northern-harrier-eye-level-mia-mcpherson-5033.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/northern-harrier-eye-level-mia-mcpherson-5033.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/northern-harrier-eye-level-mia-mcpherson-5033.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\/39146","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=39146"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39146\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/149752"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39146"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39146"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39146"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}