{"id":40195,"date":"2016-06-26T06:20:09","date_gmt":"2016-06-26T12:20:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=40195"},"modified":"2024-09-04T10:03:53","modified_gmt":"2024-09-04T15:03:53","slug":"tattered-looking-molting-red-tailed-hawk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/06\/26\/tattered-looking-molting-red-tailed-hawk\/","title":{"rendered":"Tattered Looking Molting Red-tailed Hawk"},"content":{"rendered":"

This time of the year I see plenty of molting Red-tailed Hawks and they can look pretty tattered, worn and shabby. Two days ago I found and pointed out a pair of Red-tailed Hawks in northern Utah, the one pictured below and a darker, rufous adult.<\/p>\n

\"PerchedPerched molting Red-tailed Hawk – Nikon D810, f7.1, 1\/1600, ISO 400, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

The darker adult took off right away and flew off into the distance but this one remained perched on the lichen covered boulder for a bit.<\/p>\n

The worn feathers on its head were my first clue that the red-tailed was molting and a quick look at its tail was another.<\/p>\n

There are two tail feathers in the center of the tail that are longer and only have dark two dark terminal bands while the other tail feathers have a series of dark bands and are shorter. The difference in the length is an indicator of molt.<\/p>\n

I liked how the red tail feather colors and the lichen on the boulder were similar.<\/p>\n

\"MoltingMolting Red-tailed Hawk lift off – Nikon D810, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 400, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

When the Red-tailed Hawk lifted off from the boulder I could easily see how tattered looking the hawk’s plumage was. Although this bird isn’t as “beautiful” as a Red-tailed Hawk in fresh plumage is, I still think the hawk is handsome even if it is in molt.<\/p>\n

\"MoltingMolting Red-tailed Hawk flight – Nikon D810, f7.1, 1\/1600, ISO 400, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

When the hawk flew past me it was harder to tell that it was molting but the uneven length of the tail feathers gives it away. According to BNA<\/span><\/a> the peak of molt for body feathers is August through October and for primary feathers it is May through June and then August through October for Red-tailed Hawks.<\/p>\n

The light colored eye can be an indicator that this Red-tailed Hawk hasn’t reached full maturity because most adults have dark eyes but there are adult red-tails that have light eyes. Just a bit of trivia.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good, birds make it more interesting.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click 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":"

This time of the year I see plenty of molting Red-tailed Hawks and they can look pretty tattered, worn and shabby. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":133840,"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":[27,1148,449,26],"tags":[2663,4170,4052,4122,4033,4169,2386,4067,4282,2312,2313,4104,153,5414,4209,2239,9461,5215,5216,5214],"class_list":["post-40195","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-red-tailed-hawks","category-utah","tag-birds-of-prey","tag-buteo-jamaicensis","tag-flight","tag-flying","tag-hawk","tag-hawks","tag-hawks-of-utah","tag-immature","tag-lift-off","tag-molt","tag-molting","tag-perched","tag-raptors","tag-red-tail","tag-red-tailed-hawk","tag-sub-adult","tag-subadult","tag-tail-bands","tag-tail-feathers","tag-tattered"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/red-tailed-hawk-molting-mia-mcpherson-8634.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-asj","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":46669,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/05\/09\/molting-one-year-old-red-tailed-hawk\/","url_meta":{"origin":40195,"position":0},"title":"Molting One-Year-Old Red-tailed Hawk","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 9, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"I also keep images of birds that look a bit messy because they are molting even if they aren't up to my standards, like this one-year-old Red-tailed Hawk that was rapidly molting the end of July in 2015.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Rapid second pre-basic molt in a year old Red-tailed Hawk, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-tailed-hawk-molting-mia-mcpherson-0729.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-molting-mia-mcpherson-0729.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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