{"id":44114,"date":"2016-12-26T05:53:40","date_gmt":"2016-12-26T12:53:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=44114"},"modified":"2026-01-16T13:09:19","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T19:09:19","slug":"first-year-red-tailed-hawk-close-up-in-a-snow-storm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/12\/26\/first-year-red-tailed-hawk-close-up-in-a-snow-storm\/","title":{"rendered":"First Year Red-tailed Hawk Close Up In A Snow Storm"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"FirstFirst year Red-tailed Hawk close up – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 640, +1.0 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

Even though the roads were dicey I did get out to photograph a few birds yesterday morning after our Christmas snow storm. At home there was probably close to 9 inches of the fluffy white stuff on the ground.<\/p>\n

It was snowing at Farmington Bay, the light was low, and visibility was poor, but I didn’t come home completely empty-handed and I did see birds.<\/p>\n

This first year Red-tailed Hawk close up in the snow storm was a reminder of how much our birds and wildlife have to struggle to get through the harsh winter. The juvenile hawk’s tail feathers were wet, its back had a fine layer of snow on it and there was ice on the feathers surrounding its right eye. It was also all fluffed up to keep out the cold.<\/p>\n

This young hawk needs to be able to detect its prey in white out conditions with freezing temps and have successful hunts just to be able to survive the harsh winters here in northern Utah.<\/p>\n

Red-tailed Hawks, like many other raptors, suffer a high mortality rate of around 80% during their first year. If they can survive that first year they can live to be about 20 years of age.<\/p>\n

This isn’t a great image because the snow-covered Russian Olive branches, leaves and fruits are a bit distracting to the eye and the white background isn’t the best but I think this photo speaks of the conditions this juvenile Red-tailed Hawk has to cope with to survive until spring.<\/p>\n

I hope this Red-tailed Hawk<\/span><\/a> makes it.<\/p>\n

Life is trying but 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":"

This first year Red-tailed Hawk close up in the snow storm was a reminder of how much our birds and wildlife have to struggle to get through the harsh winter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":167041,"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":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,1022,697,449,26],"tags":[5578,2663,4170,4142,1098,4169,2386,4067,4071,153,5130,4209,5577,4050,4509,373,4193],"class_list":["post-44114","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-davis-county-utah","category-farmington-bay-wma","category-red-tailed-hawks","category-utah","tag-bedraggled","tag-birds-of-prey","tag-buteo-jamaicensis","tag-close-up","tag-first-year","tag-hawks","tag-hawks-of-utah","tag-immature","tag-juvenile","tag-raptors","tag-red-tailed","tag-red-tailed-hawk","tag-russian-olive","tag-snow","tag-snow-storm","tag-winter","tag-young"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-snow-storm-mia-mcpherson-7647.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-btw","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":18153,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/12\/26\/perched-red-tailed-hawk-in-a-snow-storm\/","url_meta":{"origin":44114,"position":0},"title":"Perched Red-tailed Hawk in a snow storm","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 26, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"This beautiful rufous Red-tailed Hawk has been hanging around Farmington Bay for a couple of months now much to the delight of many photographers and myself.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Perched Red-tailed Hawk in a snow storm, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/red-tailed-hawk-snow-storm-mia-mcpherson-7445.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/red-tailed-hawk-snow-storm-mia-mcpherson-7445.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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Years","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 25, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Today I wanted to share some of the Christmas Day bird photos I have taken through the years out in the field and close to home.","rel":"","context":"In "Bald Eagles"","block_context":{"text":"Bald Eagles","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/diurnal-raptors\/bald-eagle\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Christmas Day snow storm and a Red-tailed Hawk, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-tailed-hawk-snow-storm-mia-mcpherson-7454.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-snow-storm-mia-mcpherson-7454.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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flight in low light, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-flight-mia-mcpherson-1346.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-1346.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-mia-mcpherson-1346.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-mia-mcpherson-1346.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":13448,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/01\/15\/a-red-tailed-hawk-on-a-winter-day\/","url_meta":{"origin":44114,"position":4},"title":"Red-tailed Hawk On A Winter Day","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 15, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"One of the birds I photographed yesterday was this handsome Red-tailed Hawk that I spotted in a tree at Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Red-tailed Hawk on a winter day, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-tailed-hawk-flight-pose-mia-mcpherson-4739.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-flight-pose-mia-mcpherson-4739.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-tailed-hawk-flight-pose-mia-mcpherson-4739.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 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