{"id":42065,"date":"2016-09-21T06:02:44","date_gmt":"2016-09-21T12:02:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=42065"},"modified":"2026-01-16T12:26:52","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T18:26:52","slug":"juvenile-red-tailed-hawk-on-a-lichen-covered-boulder-in-idaho","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/09\/21\/juvenile-red-tailed-hawk-on-a-lichen-covered-boulder-in-idaho\/","title":{"rendered":"Juvenile Red-tailed Hawk On A Lichen Covered Boulder In Idaho"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"JuvenileJuvenile Red-tailed Hawk walking down a boulder – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 400, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Of all the raptors I saw on my most recent trip Red-tailed Hawks were the most numerous and I would say that around half of the Red-tailed Hawks that I saw were juveniles.<\/p>\n

I photographed more juveniles than adults though because they typically aren’t quite as skittish as the adults and hang around longer.<\/p>\n

I saw plenty of hawks perched on fences and power poles and fewer of them perched on natural objects so when I have a subject on a natural perch I often take way too many images of them.<\/p>\n

When I found this juvenile Red-tailed Hawk on a lichen covered boulder in Idaho I took a little over 160 frames of it.<\/p>\n

In this frame I loved the texture of the boulder, the raised foot, and the look of concentration the hawk appeared to have as it walked down the boulder.<\/p>\n

\"JuvenileJuvenile Red-tailed Hawk on a lichen covered boulder – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/800, ISO 400, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

When the young hawk was done walking down the boulder it fluffed up its feathers and seemed to be soaking up the warmth of the morning sun.<\/p>\n

It was only 28\u00b0F at the time and I know I could feel the chill in the air.<\/p>\n

The juvenile Red-tailed Hawk<\/span><\/a> seemed perfectly content and didn’t do much at all after this so I said goodbye to it and went looking for more subjects to photograph.<\/p>\n

I wonder if this juvenile has headed south and if it might visit the Salt Lake Valley on its fall migration.<\/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":"

When I found this juvenile Red-tailed Hawk on a lichen covered boulder in Idaho I took a little over 160 frames of it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":152082,"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":[27,2578,2244,449],"tags":[2663,4138,4170,4033,4169,5163,4071,3291,4104,153,4209,4236],"class_list":["post-42065","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-clark-county","category-idaho","category-red-tailed-hawks","tag-birds-of-prey","tag-boulder","tag-buteo-jamaicensis","tag-hawk","tag-hawks","tag-hawks-of-idaho","tag-juvenile","tag-lichen","tag-perched","tag-raptors","tag-red-tailed-hawk","tag-walking"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-rock-mia-mcpherson-2054.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-aWt","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":53123,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/07\/17\/sibling-red-tailed-hawk-juveniles-perched-on-the-wing\/","url_meta":{"origin":42065,"position":0},"title":"Sibling Red-tailed Hawk Juveniles Perched & On The Wing","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 17, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Back in March of this year I started watching and photographing a pair of Red-tailed Hawks in the process of building their nest on the face of a high cliff, these two juveniles are the results of the hard work of that pair of hawks.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Red-tailed Hawk juvenile in flight at eye level, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-flight-mia-mcpherson-4853.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-mia-mcpherson-4853.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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"Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Red-tailed Hawk juvenile landing on a telegraph pole, Clark County, Idaho","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-interstate-mia-mcpherson-1429.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-interstate-mia-mcpherson-1429.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-interstate-mia-mcpherson-1429.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-interstate-mia-mcpherson-1429.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":27397,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/08\/12\/red-tailed-hawks-near-the-promontory-mountains\/","url_meta":{"origin":42065,"position":2},"title":"Red-tailed Hawks Near The Promontory Mountains","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 12, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday I spent the morning in Box Elder County driving along the Promontory Mountain Range and Red-tailed Hawks were the most numerous raptors I saw.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Portrait of a Red-tailed Hawk in Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-tailed-hawk-adult-portrait-mia-mcpherson-4156.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-portrait-mia-mcpherson-4156.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-tailed-hawk-adult-portrait-mia-mcpherson-4156.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-portrait-mia-mcpherson-4156.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":42032,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/09\/19\/two-red-tailed-hawks-near-old-route-91\/","url_meta":{"origin":42065,"position":3},"title":"Two Red-tailed Hawks Near Old Route 91","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 19, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"I photographed these two Red-tailed Hawks near old route 91 in Idaho which runs close to Interstate 15, part of the road is still paved and part of it is gravel.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Yawning juvenile Red-tailed Hawk in a conifer, Clark County, Idaho","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/red-tailed-hawk-yawning-mia-mcpherson-1844.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/red-tailed-hawk-yawning-mia-mcpherson-1844.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/red-tailed-hawk-yawning-mia-mcpherson-1844.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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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":40195,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/06\/26\/tattered-looking-molting-red-tailed-hawk\/","url_meta":{"origin":42065,"position":5},"title":"Tattered Looking Molting Red-tailed Hawk","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 26, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"This time of the year I see plenty of molting Red-tailed Hawks and they can look pretty tattered, worn and shabby.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Molting Red-tailed Hawk lift off, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/red-tailed-hawk-molting-mia-mcpherson-8634.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/red-tailed-hawk-molting-mia-mcpherson-8634.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/red-tailed-hawk-molting-mia-mcpherson-8634.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/red-tailed-hawk-molting-mia-mcpherson-8634.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\/42065","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=42065"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42065\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/152082"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42065"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42065"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42065"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}