{"id":47569,"date":"2017-07-05T06:25:10","date_gmt":"2017-07-05T12:25:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=47569"},"modified":"2026-01-18T12:06:50","modified_gmt":"2026-01-18T18:06:50","slug":"photographing-a-juvenile-red-tailed-hawk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/07\/05\/photographing-a-juvenile-red-tailed-hawk\/","title":{"rendered":"Photographing A Juvenile Red-tailed Hawk – Remembering To Breathe And Relax"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Juvenile – Nikon D500, f9, 1\/800, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

I’m running a little late this morning because I had to work on some server issues so I will keep my text content to a minimum.<\/p>\n

I was fortunate to find a very cooperative juvenile Red-tailed Hawk yesterday morning in northern Utah. This young hawk is from a nest I have been following since March and it has been such a treat to watch the little wobbly-headed chicks mature to seeing them on the wing.<\/p>\n

I’m kind of on the fence whether to call the hawk a fledgling or a juvenile because it has only recently fledged but it is flying on its own even though it does seem rather clumsy at times.<\/p>\n

\"JuvenileJuvenile Red-tailed Hawk walking on a rusty fence rail – Nikon D500, f9, 1\/1000, ISO 250, -0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

The young Red-tailed Hawk seems to be the clumsiest while trying to walk, it is handling flying quite well. It had trouble keeping its balance on a metal pipe being used as fencing material.<\/p>\n

\"JuvenileJuvenile Red-tailed Hawk having trouble with its balance – Nikon D500, f8, 1\/1250, ISO 250, Nikkor 500mm VR, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

And it slipped several times while I photographed it. I really couldn’t help but laugh out loud at the young raptor nearly falling off its perch.<\/p>\n

\"PortraitPortrait of a juvenile Red-tailed Hawk in northern Utah – Nikon D500, f8, 1\/1000, ISO 320, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

It didn’t seem to have any problems when it landed on solid ground.<\/p>\n

\"JuvenileJuvenile Red-tailed Hawk perched on a lichen covered rock – Nikon D500, f8, 1\/1000, ISO 320, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

Or on the rocks of a nearby outcropping. In fact it seemed very confident when it was on the rocks.<\/p>\n

\"JuvenileJuvenile Red-tailed Hawk panting in the heat – Nikon D500, f8, 1\/1250, ISO 320, Nikkor 500mm VR, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

It was hot yesterday and the young hawk seemed to pant at times to cool off. It also called out to the nearby adults a few times too.<\/p>\n

\"FunnyFunny look from a preening juvenile Red-tailed Hawk – Nikon D500, f8, 1\/1000, ISO 320, Nikkor 500mm VR, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

It preened and I was able to capture a few images where it seemed that the juvenile Red-tailed Hawk was giving me funny looks.<\/p>\n

\"WetWet and bedraggled Red-tailed Hawk juvenile – Nikon D500, f8, 1\/1000, ISO 320, Nikkor 500mm VR, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

It also went down to an area with water and I don’t know if it was just getting a drink or if it was attempting to bathe because tall grasses were obstructing my view.<\/p>\n

Then it flew back up to the rusty metal pipe it had a wet chest and was struggling to stay on the perch. When it spread out its wings I couldn’t fit the whole hawk into my view finder. But I really liked this photo.<\/p>\n

I needed time out with the birds yesterday and this juvenile Red-tailed Hawk<\/span><\/a> helped me to relax, breathe and remember that things have a way of working out.<\/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":"

I needed time out with the birds yesterday and this juvenile Red-tailed Hawk helped me to relax, breathe and remember that things have a way of working out. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":138625,"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":[27,1148,449,26],"tags":[5944,2663,4170,5951,4098,4169,2386,4067,4071,3291,4104,8301,8300,4046,4019,153,5201,4209,1824,4193],"class_list":["post-47569","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-red-tailed-hawks","category-utah","tag-balance","tag-birds-of-prey","tag-buteo-jamaicensis","tag-clumsy","tag-desert","tag-hawks","tag-hawks-of-utah","tag-immature","tag-juvenile","tag-lichen","tag-perched","tag-photograph","tag-photographing","tag-portrait","tag-preening-2","tag-raptors","tag-red-tail-hawk","tag-red-tailed-hawk","tag-wet","tag-young"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-wet-mia-mcpherson-8564.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-cnf","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6053,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/09\/05\/juvenile-red-tailed-hawk-in-landing-pose\/","url_meta":{"origin":47569,"position":0},"title":"Juvenile Red-tailed Hawk In Landing Pose","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 5, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"I had fun yesterday photographing this juvenile Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) as it perched on rocks and hunted for prey. This image shows the Red-tailed coming in for a landing.","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Landing juvenile Red-tailed Hawk, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/red-tailed-hawk-mia-mcpherson-4237.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/red-tailed-hawk-mia-mcpherson-4237.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/red-tailed-hawk-mia-mcpherson-4237.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":53123,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/07\/17\/sibling-red-tailed-hawk-juveniles-perched-on-the-wing\/","url_meta":{"origin":47569,"position":1},"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, 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McPherson","date":"December 4, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"These are a just few images that I have edited taken since August of Red-tailed Hawk juveniles on Antelope Island State Park.","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Red-tailed juvenile landing on a rock outcropping, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-landing-mia-mcpherson-9128.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-landing-mia-mcpherson-9128.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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juvenile in 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":15734,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/08\/30\/fighting-red-tailed-hawk-juveniles\/","url_meta":{"origin":47569,"position":4},"title":"Fighting Red-tailed Hawk Juveniles","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 30, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"I wonder if these two juvenile Red-tailed Hawks will hang around for the winter, I sure hope so.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Fighting Red-tailed Hawk juveniles, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/red-tailed-hawk-juveniles-mia-mcpherson-1830.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-juveniles-mia-mcpherson-1830.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/red-tailed-hawk-juveniles-mia-mcpherson-1830.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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