{"id":51714,"date":"2018-04-18T05:09:38","date_gmt":"2018-04-18T11:09:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=51714"},"modified":"2021-04-15T04:57:47","modified_gmt":"2021-04-15T10:57:47","slug":"dark-morph-swainsons-hawk-possibly-the-darkest-i-have-ever-seen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/04\/18\/dark-morph-swainsons-hawk-possibly-the-darkest-i-have-ever-seen\/","title":{"rendered":"Dark Morph Swainson’s Hawk – Possibly The Darkest I Have Ever Seen"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"VeryVery dark Swainson’s Hawk – Nikon D500, f8, 1\/1000, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Just about one year ago I was thrilled to photograph a very cooperative dark morph Swainson’s Hawk that is possibly the darkest, dark morph I have ever seen. Granted, I see far more light and intermediate morph Swainson’s Hawks than I do the dark morph but in all the time I have been photographing them this one stands out as the darkest.<\/p>\n

This dark hawk was especially cooperative and as I photographed it the hawk preened, stretched, roused, rested, defecated and scratched its head. It was very chilly that spring morning and that may have made the Swainson’s less inclined to fly off but I have also noticed that Swainson’s Hawks seem less skittish than the other hawk species that I photograph. Whatever the reason was for it being so cooperative I’m delighted with all the photos I was able to take of this handsome bird.<\/p>\n

\"DarkDark morph Swainson’s Hawk in northern Utah – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1000, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

This Swainson’s Hawk was photographed soon after these hawks had migrated to northern Utah from South America to come here for their breeding season. I remember hoping this hawk in particular would stick around at the same location and breed, but as I recall I only saw it in the area about two or three times so perhaps it moved on to another less accessible location in northern Utah to find a mate.<\/p>\n

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

It isn\u2019t often that I am in a position to take such intimate portraits of wild birds of prey so when I find cooperative birds and can take the close ups without stressing my subjects I fire off hundreds of shots. To have such a dark, dark morph of this hawk species in my viewfinder was very special for me.<\/p>\n

I’m looking forward to photographing all the Swainson’s Hawks I see while they are here for their breeding season, perhaps even another dark morph as handsome as this hawk was.<\/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":"

Just about one year ago I was thrilled to photograph a very cooperative dark morph Swainson’s Hawk that is possibly the darkest, dark morph I have ever seen. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":51705,"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":[27,1148,206,26],"tags":[4004,2663,4200,4142,6458,4530,4033,4169,2386,4104,4046,153,4034],"class_list":["post-51714","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-swainson-hawks","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-birds-of-prey","tag-buteo-swainsoni","tag-close-up","tag-dark","tag-dark-morph","tag-hawk","tag-hawks","tag-hawks-of-utah","tag-perched","tag-portrait","tag-raptors","tag-swainsons-hawk"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/swainsons-hawk-dark-morph-mia-mcpherson-9068.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-ds6","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":105569,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/08\/29\/dark-morph-swainsons-hawk-photos\/","url_meta":{"origin":51714,"position":0},"title":"Dark Morph Swainson’s Hawk Photos","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 29, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Early yesterday morning on my way to the auto tour route at Bear River MBR I was delighted to see and photograph not just one dark morph Swainson's Hawk but two.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult dark morph Swainson's Hawk in lift off pose, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, 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McPherson","date":"April 4, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"I've shared photos of this gorgeous dark morph Swainson's Hawk before and I've written about how I believed it was the darkest, dark morph I had ever seen and to date that still holds true.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Staring dark morph Swainson's Hawk, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/swainsons-hawk-dark-morph-stare-mia-mcpherson-9588.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/swainsons-hawk-dark-morph-stare-mia-mcpherson-9588.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/box-elder-county-utah\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Swainson's Hawk dark morph looking down, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/swainsons-hawk-close-up-mia-mcpherson-9737.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/swainsons-hawk-close-up-mia-mcpherson-9737.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/swainsons-hawk-close-up-mia-mcpherson-9737.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/swainsons-hawk-close-up-mia-mcpherson-9737.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/swainsons-hawk-sub-adult-dark-morph-mia-mcpherson-7258.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/swainsons-hawk-sub-adult-dark-morph-mia-mcpherson-7258.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/swainsons-hawk-sub-adult-dark-morph-mia-mcpherson-7258.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/swainsons-hawk-sub-adult-dark-morph-mia-mcpherson-7258.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":46428,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/04\/23\/photographing-swainsons-hawks-in-northern-utah\/","url_meta":{"origin":51714,"position":4},"title":"Photographing Swainson’s Hawks in Northern 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