{"id":47313,"date":"2017-06-15T03:15:08","date_gmt":"2017-06-15T09:15:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=47313"},"modified":"2026-01-18T11:08:03","modified_gmt":"2026-01-18T17:08:03","slug":"red-tailed-hawk-chicks-the-wind-blew-their-nest-away","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/06\/15\/red-tailed-hawk-chicks-the-wind-blew-their-nest-away\/","title":{"rendered":"Red-tailed Hawk Chicks – The Wind Blew Their Nest Away"},"content":{"rendered":"

Red-tailed Hawk Chicks<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"Red-tailedRed-tailed Hawk chick on the ground – Nikon D500, f8, 1\/1600, ISO 400, -0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Last week and over the weekend we had some pretty strong winds in Utah. Miles and miles of I-80 were closed because semi tractor trailers were blown over. The wind howled and howled and at times there were gusts in excess of 70 mph. While I was safe and sound at home from the wind the birds here in Utah weren’t and to make matters worse it is nesting season.<\/p>\n

High winds cause multiple crashes, closures and outages around Utah<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

The Wind Blew Their Nest Away<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Yesterday I saw that one of the Red-tailed Hawk nests I have been following since early spring had been blown down because of the high winds. The winds must have been very strong because I couldn’t even see any of the branches or twigs the nest had been constructed with.<\/p>\n

I saw the Red-tailed Hawk chicks near where the nest had been though and I spent less than two minutes with them and took a few images before leaving them alone.<\/p>\n

\"FluffyFluffy Red-tailed Hawk chick – Nikon D500, f8, 1\/1250, ISO 400, -0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

The adult Red-tailed Hawks were nearby and could easily see their chicks from where they were perched, the chicks looked healthy, well fed and were partially hidden in tall grasses. I felt reassured because the adults were there.<\/p>\n

Even though the three chicks are out of their nest prematurely the adults are there feeding and looking after their young.\u00a0 I can honestly say I felt no need to rescue them because the adults were right where they needed to be and because of the condition of the chicks. I believe that leaving them with their parents was the best choice to make.<\/p>\n

I sure hope that the three Red-tailed Hawk chicks make it despite the wind knocking them out of their nest early, only time will tell.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

A nifty graphic from Tracy Aviary that can help people figure out if they need to help a young bird or leave it alone, “I’ve Found a Baby Bird, What Do I Do?!<\/span><\/a>”<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Red-tailed Hawk photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n

I wanted to say that I will not share where this nest was other than it is in the state of Utah, I don’t want this location known for the Red-tailed Hawk chicks safety. There are unethical people (wanna be falconers) who might try to capture them without permits, proper licensing, or proper training. <\/em><\/p>\n

These chicks are especially vulnerable because they didn’t fledge naturally from their nest, they can’t fly yet, and I won’t do or say anything to put them at risk which also means I won’t include any images I have taken of the nest prior to the wind blowing it down or anything that gives away their location, I want to protect them that much and ethically I believe it is the right thing to do.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I saw the Red-tailed Hawk chicks near where the nest had been though and I spent less than two minutes with them and took a few images before leaving them alone.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":133132,"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":[27,945,449,26,2162],"tags":[2663,4170,2497,4134,4068,4098,4141,4109,4169,5920,4067,4071,4075,3976,9437,153,4209,5361,5919,4193],"class_list":["post-47313","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-nesting-birds","category-red-tailed-hawks","category-utah","category-wildlife-ethics-wildlife-ethics","tag-birds-of-prey","tag-buteo-jamaicensis","tag-buteos","tag-chick","tag-chicks","tag-desert","tag-fledgling","tag-grasses","tag-hawks","tag-high-winds","tag-immature","tag-juvenile","tag-nest","tag-nesting","tag-nestling","tag-raptors","tag-red-tailed-hawk","tag-wind","tag-wind-event","tag-young"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\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