{"id":45511,"date":"2017-03-12T05:51:35","date_gmt":"2017-03-12T11:51:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=45511"},"modified":"2025-05-25T08:58:16","modified_gmt":"2025-05-25T13:58:16","slug":"coopers-hawk-takes-flight-in-northern-utah","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/03\/12\/coopers-hawk-takes-flight-in-northern-utah\/","title":{"rendered":"Cooper’s Hawk Takes Flight in Northern Utah"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Cooper'sCooper’s Hawk perched on a lichen covered boulder – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

I spent the morning in Box Elder County in northern Utah looking for birds to photograph, I was hoping to find a first of the year Swainson’s Hawk or Turkey Vulture or perhaps even find the Golden Eagle pair I found earlier this month.<\/p>\n

I didn’t see them but I did find Red-tailed Hawks, a few Rough-legged Hawks, one juvenile Bald Eagle, Prairie Falcons, American Kestrels and one Cooper’s Hawk.<\/p>\n

Cooper’s Hawks are forest and woodland birds that have adapted well to urban and suburban areas and they are also found in desert areas of the southwest. The road I was on has smatterings of small trees next to it that attract smaller songbirds and the Cooper’s Hawk diet consists of those small birds.<\/p>\n

\"Cooper'sCooper’s Hawk stretching – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

When I first saw this Cooper’s Hawk it had taken flight from the east side of the road and landed in a tree that was snugged up close to a cliff face but was hidden from view, when the hawk took off from the tree it landed on a lichen covered boulder that was on a rocky outcrop on the west side of the road in beautiful light. I was able to take several images of the Cooper’s as it perched and stretched on the boulder.<\/p>\n

\"Cooper'sCooper’s Hawk in flight in northern Utah – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

The Cooper’s Hawk took flight without much warning at all and for a second I lost it while tracking the hawk but regained focus as it flew south past me. The background in this frame shows lichen covered rocks and some sagebrush.<\/p>\n

\"Cooper'sCooper’s Hawk fly by – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

The hawk continued flying south after the image above was taken and although I couldn’t relocate it I was happy to have been able to get these images of it in flight. It was a beautiful morning.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Cooper\u2019s Hawk photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Cooper’s Hawk took flight without much warning at all and for a second I lost it while tracking the hawk but regained focus as it flew south past me.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":146994,"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":[1148,5715,26],"tags":[10402,5397,4004,5717,2663,4138,5716,4098,4052,4122,4033,4169,2386,3291,4104,153],"class_list":["post-45511","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-coopers-hawks","category-utah","tag-accipiter","tag-accipiters","tag-adult","tag-astur-cooperii","tag-birds-of-prey","tag-boulder","tag-coopers-hawk","tag-desert","tag-flight","tag-flying","tag-hawk","tag-hawks","tag-hawks-of-utah","tag-lichen","tag-perched","tag-raptors"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/coopers-hawk-flight-mia-mcpherson-3227.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-bQ3","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":73533,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/09\/07\/focusing-on-taking-immature-coopers-hawk-photos\/","url_meta":{"origin":45511,"position":0},"title":"Focusing On Taking Immature Cooper’s Hawk Photos","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 7, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"The first bird I photographed yesterday morning was an immature Cooper's Hawk that I found because I spotted a Red-tailed Hawk on a cliff face that the young accipiter decided to harass.\u00a0","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Immature Cooper's Hawk perched on a gate railing, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/coopers-hawk-immature-gate-mia-mcpherson-2202.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/coopers-hawk-immature-gate-mia-mcpherson-2202.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/coopers-hawk-immature-gate-mia-mcpherson-2202.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/coopers-hawk-immature-gate-mia-mcpherson-2202.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":119431,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/01\/01\/coopers-hawk-my-last-bird-of-2023\/","url_meta":{"origin":45511,"position":1},"title":"Cooper’s Hawk – My Last Bird of 2023","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 1, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"As the sun was setting on the last day of 2023, the last bird I saw was a neighborhood Cooper's Hawk. I shared that sighting with my neighbor, Shane, and his son, Kadence.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Neighborhood Cooper's Hawk, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/coopers-hawk-adult-male-aspen-mia-mcpherson-5015.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/coopers-hawk-adult-male-aspen-mia-mcpherson-5015.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/coopers-hawk-adult-male-aspen-mia-mcpherson-5015.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/coopers-hawk-adult-male-aspen-mia-mcpherson-5015.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/coopers-hawk-immature-nearly-hidden-mia-mcpherson-9960.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/coopers-hawk-immature-nearly-hidden-mia-mcpherson-9960.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/coopers-hawk-immature-nearly-hidden-mia-mcpherson-9960.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/coopers-hawk-immature-nearly-hidden-mia-mcpherson-9960.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":51865,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/04\/28\/surprise-coopers-hawk-in-the-wasatch-mountains\/","url_meta":{"origin":45511,"position":3},"title":"Surprise Cooper’s Hawk in the Wasatch Mountains","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 28, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"There are days when one bird can \"make\" the day great for me as a bird photographer, yesterday that bird was a Cooper's Hawk in a Wasatch Mountain canyon east of Salt Lake City.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Staring Cooper's Hawk, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/coopers-hawk-perched-mia-mcpherson-6583.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/coopers-hawk-perched-mia-mcpherson-6583.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/coopers-hawk-perched-mia-mcpherson-6583.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/coopers-hawk-perched-mia-mcpherson-6583.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":60409,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/09\/23\/hatch-year-coopers-hawk-resting-in-sagebrush\/","url_meta":{"origin":45511,"position":4},"title":"Hatch Year Cooper’s Hawk Resting In Sagebrush","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 23, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Spotting this immature Cooper's Hawk resting in sagebrush yesterday was the highlight of my morning and even though the setting is messy I like that it shows this young hawk in the habitat this species can be found in. \u00a0","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Immature Cooper's Hawk resting in sage, Wasatch Mountains, Morgan County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/coopers-hawk-immature-sagebrush-mia-mcpherson-5708.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/coopers-hawk-immature-sagebrush-mia-mcpherson-5708.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/coopers-hawk-immature-sagebrush-mia-mcpherson-5708.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/coopers-hawk-immature-sagebrush-mia-mcpherson-5708.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":51544,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/04\/08\/coopers-hawk-with-prey-plus-an-unintentional-blur-photo\/","url_meta":{"origin":45511,"position":5},"title":"Cooper’s Hawk With Prey Plus An Unintentional Blur Photo","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 8, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"It was a bitter cold January morning in 2016 when I photographed this Cooper's Hawk on prey that I found not far from where I live.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Cooper's Hawk with prey in Salt Lake County, 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