{"id":41701,"date":"2016-09-04T05:13:50","date_gmt":"2016-09-04T11:13:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=41701"},"modified":"2026-01-16T12:07:51","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T18:07:51","slug":"adult-red-tailed-hawk-with-an-ant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/09\/04\/adult-red-tailed-hawk-with-an-ant\/","title":{"rendered":"Adult Red-tailed Hawk With An Ant"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-167011 size-full\" title=\"Red-tailed Hawk and an ant, Beaverhead County, Montana\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-tailed-hawk-ant-mia-mcpherson-3513.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-tailed-hawk-ant-mia-mcpherson-3513.jpg\" alt=\"Red-tailed Hawk and an ant, Beaverhead County, Montana\" width=\"850\" height=\"700\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27850%27%20height%3D%27700%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%20850%20700%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%27850%27%20height%3D%27700%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-tailed-hawk-ant-mia-mcpherson-3513-200x165.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-tailed-hawk-ant-mia-mcpherson-3513-400x329.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-tailed-hawk-ant-mia-mcpherson-3513-600x494.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-tailed-hawk-ant-mia-mcpherson-3513-768x632.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-tailed-hawk-ant-mia-mcpherson-3513.jpg 850w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 850px) 100vw, 850px\" \/><span style=\"color: #808080;\">Red-tailed Hawk and an ant &#8211; Nikon D810, f9, 1\/640, ISO 400, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n<p>On my last trip up to Montana and Idaho I photographed a very cooperative adult <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/07\/15\/beaverhead-county-red-tailed-hawks\/\">Red-tailed Hawk in Beaverhead County, Montana<\/a><\/span> who had a full crop and was perched on a fence post along the road.<\/p>\n<p>I processed the image in the post I linked to above on my lap top while I was still in Montana.<\/p>\n<p>I don&#8217;t delete anything but the worst images while I am on camping trips because I don&#8217;t really trust the screen on my lap top as far as sharpness and detail go.<\/p>\n<p>Sometimes after processing an image to post while I am on a trip I send the processed image(s) to my phone and tablet by Bluetooth because they have higher resolutions and even though the screens are smaller I can see details and sharpness better.<\/p>\n<p>I can&#8217;t do that with all the images that I take on a trip because it would take too much time so I wait until I get home to go through them all.<\/p>\n<p>Recently I finished going through the images from that last trip and deleted the bad ones plus I took a closer look at the ones I will keep and this photo made me laugh when I brought it up on my large monitor at home.<\/p>\n<p>At the time I created this image I didn&#8217;t realize that when I took this portrait of the adult <a href=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/guide\/Red-tailed_Hawk\/id\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Red-tailed Hawk<\/span><\/a> that I also photographed an ant. Can you see it?<\/p>\n<p>Life <em>is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n<p>Mia<\/p>\n<p>Click <a href=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/red-tailed-hawk-images\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">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":"<p>At the time I created this image I didn&#8217;t realize that when I took this portrait of the adult Red-tailed Hawk that I also photographed an ant. Can you see it? <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":167011,"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":[1513,27,12,449],"tags":[4004,4515,4170,2497,4142,1139,5409,4033,4169,2237,4104,4046,153,5201,4209],"class_list":["post-41701","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-beaverhead-county-montana","category-avian","category-montana","category-red-tailed-hawks","tag-adult","tag-ant","tag-buteo-jamaicensis","tag-buteos","tag-close-up","tag-crop","tag-full-crop","tag-hawk","tag-hawks","tag-hawks-of-montana","tag-perched","tag-portrait","tag-raptors","tag-red-tail-hawk","tag-red-tailed-hawk"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-tailed-hawk-ant-mia-mcpherson-3513.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-aQB","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":40531,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/07\/15\/beaverhead-county-red-tailed-hawks\/","url_meta":{"origin":41701,"position":0},"title":"Beaverhead County Red-tailed Hawks","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 15, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"These are a few of the Beaverhead County Red-tailed Hawks that I have photographed while on this trip to Montana and Idaho.","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":"Juvenile Red-tailed Hawk along the South Valley Road, Centennial Valley, Beaverhead County, Montana","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-flight-miaa-mcpherson-4011.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-miaa-mcpherson-4011.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-miaa-mcpherson-4011.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-miaa-mcpherson-4011.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8991,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/07\/21\/if-only-i-could-fly-like-this-red-tailed-hawk\/","url_meta":{"origin":41701,"position":1},"title":"If Only I Could Fly Like This Red-tailed Hawk!","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 21, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"I readily admit that sometimes I daydream about being able to fly like a bird and quite often the bird I wish I were is a Red-tailed Hawk.","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":"Red-tailed Hawk flying over the treeline, Centennial Valley, Beaverhead County, Montana","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/red-tailed-hawk-adult-male-mia-mcpherson-6627.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/red-tailed-hawk-adult-male-mia-mcpherson-6627.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/red-tailed-hawk-adult-male-mia-mcpherson-6627.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/red-tailed-hawk-adult-male-mia-mcpherson-6627.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":47649,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/07\/11\/five-different-centennial-valley-red-tailed-hawks\/","url_meta":{"origin":41701,"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 &quot;Beaverhead County&quot;","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":10019,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/10\/29\/red-tailed-hawk-perched-above-elk-lake-montana\/","url_meta":{"origin":41701,"position":3},"title":"Red-tailed Hawk perched above Elk Lake, Montana","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 29, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"This past September I spotted an adult Red-tailed Hawk perched high on a rocky canyon wall as it looked out over the cold waters of Elk Lake in Beaverhead County, Montana.","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":"Red-tailed Hawk perched above Elk Lake, Beaverhead \u2013 Deerlodge National Forest, Centennial Valley, Beaverhead County, Montana","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-tailed-hawk-adult-perched-mia-mcpherson-5479.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-perched-mia-mcpherson-5479.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-tailed-hawk-adult-perched-mia-mcpherson-5479.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-perched-mia-mcpherson-5479.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9085,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/08\/03\/a-ragged-red-tailed-hawk\/","url_meta":{"origin":41701,"position":4},"title":"Ragged Red-tailed Hawk In Molt","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 3, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Many of the adult Red-tailed Hawks that I saw and photographed in southwestern Montana on my last trip had worn feathers and were molting.","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":"Raggedy adult 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-molt-montana-mia-mcpherson-7585.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-molt-montana-mia-mcpherson-7585.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-tailed-hawk-molt-montana-mia-mcpherson-7585.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-tailed-hawk-molt-montana-mia-mcpherson-7585.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7476,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/02\/08\/red-tailed-hawk-adults\/","url_meta":{"origin":41701,"position":5},"title":"Red-tailed Hawk Adults","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 8, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Just a few Red-tailed Hawk images that I have been meaning to process and share.","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":"Pair of adult Red-tailed Hawks, Centennial Valley, Beaverhead County, Montana","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/red-tailed-hawk-adults-mia-mcpherson-4308.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/red-tailed-hawk-adults-mia-mcpherson-4308.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/red-tailed-hawk-adults-mia-mcpherson-4308.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41701","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=41701"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41701\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/167011"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41701"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41701"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41701"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}