{"id":46272,"date":"2017-04-16T05:42:18","date_gmt":"2017-04-16T11:42:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=46272"},"modified":"2026-10-04T06:43:17","modified_gmt":"2026-10-04T11:43:17","slug":"cooperative-dark-morph-swainsons-hawk-up-close","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/04\/16\/cooperative-dark-morph-swainsons-hawk-up-close\/","title":{"rendered":"Cooperative Dark Morph Swainson’s Hawk Up Close"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"PerchedPerched dark morph Swainson’s Hawk – Nikon D500, f9, 1\/640, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

I was thrilled and delighted to photograph a very cooperative dark morph Swainson’s Hawk up close yesterday morning in northern Utah. I see more light and intermediate morph Swainson’s Hawks where I live so dark morphs are truly a treat for me to have in my viewfinder.<\/p>\n

\"ViewView of dark morph Swainson’s Hawk on a fence post – Nikon D810, f9, 1\/640, ISO 320, Nikkor 18-200mm VR at 50mm, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

The Swainson’s Hawk was perched on a fence post at the side of a road where there is a moderate amount of traffic, I wanted to include this photo for a wider view of the setting.\u00a0 I was on the shoulder of the opposite side of the road.<\/p>\n

\"DarkDark morph Swainson’s Hawk looking right at me – Nikon D500, f9, 1\/500, ISO 250, -0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

The Swainson’s Hawks have only recently returned from their wintering grounds in South America, some of them travel as far as 14,000 miles when they migrate.<\/p>\n

This dark morph Swainson’s was close enough that with my long lens and teleconverter I was able to take portraits of it while it rested, looked around, defecated, roused and scratched its head.<\/p>\n

I loved being able to see so much detail in its chocolatey brown plumage and look into its beautiful eyes.<\/p>\n

\"Swainson'sSwainson’s Hawk dark morph close up – Nikon D500, f9, 1\/400, ISO 250, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

If I had approached this hawk on foot it most certainly would have flown away but by being inside a vehicle using it as a mobile blind the hawk seemed very comfortable and did not appear to be stressed at all.<\/p>\n

Through the years I have noticed that Swainson’s Hawks are typically less skittish than Red-tailed, Rough-legged, and Ferruginous Hawks normally are.<\/p>\n

It was also just below freezing yesterday so the hawk might have been just warming up in the sun and at times they are less skittish then.<\/p>\n

\"DarkDark morph Swainson’s Hawk talons – Nikon D500, f9, 1\/500, ISO 250, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

I wanted to include this photo because it shows the talons of the Swainson’s Hawk and how dark its chest and belly are all the way down to its feet.<\/p>\n

In the interest of full disclosure I cloned out a very out of focus, metal fence post top just to the left of my copyright mark that I felt was distracting in this frame.<\/p>\n

It is rare for me to clone out objects from my photos but here I wanted the focus to be on the hawk and its talons.<\/p>\n

\"DarkDark morph Swainson’s Hawk looking over its shoulder – Nikon D500, f9, 1\/500, ISO 250, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

The Swainson’s Hawk roused and fluffed up it feathers then turned its head and preened a few feathers on it shoulders which gave me the chance to take this photo of it looking over its shoulder.<\/p>\n

\"PortraitPortrait of a dark morph Swainson’s Hawk – Nikon D500, f9, 1\/400, ISO 250, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

It was such a gorgeous hawk that I gave my shutter button a nice work out yesterday. It isn’t often that I can take such intimate portraits of wild birds of prey so when I can find cooperative birds, and can take the close ups without stressing my subject, I fire off hundreds of shots.<\/p>\n

\"DarkDark morph Swainson’s Hawk up close – Nikon D500, f9, 1\/500, ISO 250, -0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

When I looked into this hawk’s eyes through my viewfinder I found myself wondering about all the places it has been to and seen in North, South, and Central America.<\/p>\n

\"Swainson'sSwainson’s Hawk dark morph looking down – Nikon D500, f9, 1\/500, ISO 250, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

This dark morph Swainson’s Hawk<\/span><\/a> may have just been resting up here in northern Utah to make a journey further north to breed but I kind of hope it will stick around so I can photograph it again. Perhaps it will even find a mate here and raise young. Time will tell.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

I was thrilled and delighted to photograph a very cooperative dark morph Swainson’s Hawk up close yesterday morning in northern Utah. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":130075,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1148,206,26],"tags":[4004,2663,4200,2497,4142,5812,4530,4033,4169,2386,4104,4046,153,4034,1999],"class_list":["post-46272","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-swainson-hawks","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-birds-of-prey","tag-buteo-swainsoni","tag-buteos","tag-close-up","tag-colors-morphs","tag-dark-morph","tag-hawk","tag-hawks","tag-hawks-of-utah","tag-perched","tag-portrait","tag-raptors","tag-swainsons-hawk","tag-talons"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t