{"id":5429,"date":"2012-07-31T09:19:15","date_gmt":"2012-07-31T15:19:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=5429"},"modified":"2025-12-14T06:51:54","modified_gmt":"2025-12-14T12:51:54","slug":"juvenile-red-tailed-hawk-from-the-north-side-of-the-centennial-valley-montana","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/07\/31\/juvenile-red-tailed-hawk-from-the-north-side-of-the-centennial-valley-montana\/","title":{"rendered":"Juvenile Red-tailed Hawk from the north side of the Centennial Valley, Montana"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-133338 size-full\" title=\"Juvenile Red-tailed Hawk perched on an old fence rail \" src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-3862.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-3862.jpg\" alt=\"Juvenile Red-tailed Hawk perched on an old fence rail, Centennial Valley, Beaverhead County, Montana\" width=\"850\" height=\"607\" data-id=\"10838\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27850%27%20height%3D%27607%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%20850%20607%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%27850%27%20height%3D%27607%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-3862-200x143.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-3862-250x179.jpg 250w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-3862-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-3862-400x286.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-3862-600x428.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-3862-768x548.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-3862-800x571.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-3862.jpg 850w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 850px) 100vw, 850px\" \/><span style=\"color: #888888;\">Juvenile Red-tailed Hawk perched on an old fence rail &#8211; Nikon D300, f6.3, 1\/1250, ISO 400, -03 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n<p>On my mid-July journey to southwestern Montana it seemed like there were juvenile hawks every where I looked, the east and west side of the Centennial Valley and the south and north sides too.I spotted and pointed out plenty of them.<\/p>\n<p>Although I did see and photograph juvenile Swainson&#8217;s Hawks, it was the Red-tailed Hawk\u00a0 juveniles that seemed to be the most abundant during the entire trip.<\/p>\n<p>Red-tailed Hawks hunt by perching on posts, fences and elevated perches and sometimes by kiting. It is fun to watch the juveniles looking for prey on the ground, diving for the prey, and waiting to see if they caught or missed it.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-133339 size-full\" title=\"Juvenile Red-tailed Hawk, Beaverhead County, Montana \" src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-3866.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-3866.jpg\" alt=\"Juvenile Red-tailed Hawk, Beaverhead County, Montana\" width=\"850\" height=\"607\" data-id=\"10839\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27850%27%20height%3D%27607%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%20850%20607%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%27850%27%20height%3D%27607%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-3866-200x143.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-3866-250x179.jpg 250w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-3866-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-3866-400x286.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-3866-600x428.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-3866-768x548.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-3866-800x571.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-3866.jpg 850w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 850px) 100vw, 850px\" \/><span style=\"color: #888888;\">Juvenile Red-tailed Hawk, Beaverhead County, Montana &#8211; Nikon D300, f6.3, 1\/1000, ISO 400, -03 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n<p>When I first came across this juvenile <a href=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/guide\/Red-tailed_Hawk\/id\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Red-tailed Hawk<\/span><\/a> it was perched with another juvie on the top rail of an old fence. Not long after getting there this juvenile Red-tailed dove towards the ground very close to the fence and came back up onto the rails with empty talons.<\/p>\n<p>For about 15 minutes the young hawk stayed on the rail looking around for more prey and then it lifted off (back to me of course!) to perch on a post that was further away from the road. On the way back the young buteo was still on the pole so I wasn&#8217;t able to get any more images that were closer than these.<\/p>\n<p>Life <em>is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n<p>Mia<\/p>\n<p>Click <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/red-tailed-hawk-images\/\">here<\/a><\/span> to see more of my Red-tailed Hawk photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On my mid-July journey to southwestern Montana it seemed like there were juvenile hawks every where I looked, the east and west side of the Centennial Valley and the south and north sides too. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":133338,"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":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1513,27,223,12,449],"tags":[1516,4170,4026,3830,834,4033,4169,4067,4071,4104,4585,4209,2315,1999,5434,9767,9324,4193],"class_list":["post-5429","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-beaverhead-county-montana","category-avian","category-centennial-valley","category-montana","category-red-tailed-hawks","tag-beaverhead-county-2","tag-buteo-jamaicensis","tag-centennial-valley","tag-fence","tag-fence-rail","tag-hawk","tag-hawks","tag-immature","tag-juvenile","tag-perched","tag-rail","tag-red-tailed-hawk","tag-summer-3","tag-talons","tag-valley","tag-wooden-fence","tag-wooden-rail","tag-young"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-3862.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-1pz","jetpack_sharing_enabled":false,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5396,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/07\/24\/juvenile-red-tailed-hawk-in-beaverhead-county-montana\/","url_meta":{"origin":5429,"position":0},"title":"Juvenile Red-tailed Hawk in Beaverhead County, Montana","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 24, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"These images of a juvenile Red-tailed Hawk in Beaverhead County were taken on Sunday morning, June 22nd while leaving southwestern Montana to head back to Utah.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Beaverhead County&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Beaverhead County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/montana\/beaverhead-county-montana\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Juvenile Red-tailed Hawk with wings spread, Centennial Valley, Beaverhead County, Montana","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-4860.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-4860.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-4860.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-4860.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6538,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/11\/08\/concentration-red-tailed-hawk-juvenile\/","url_meta":{"origin":5429,"position":1},"title":"Concentration &#8211; Red-tailed Hawk Juvenile","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 8, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"This juvenile Red-tailed Hawk was concentrating on some thing on the ground when I photographed it.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Beaverhead County&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Beaverhead County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/montana\/beaverhead-county-montana\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Juvenile Red-tailed Hawk\u2019s concentration, Centennial Valley, Beaverhead County, Montana","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-concentration-mia-mcpherson-5145.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-concentration-mia-mcpherson-5145.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-concentration-mia-mcpherson-5145.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-concentration-mia-mcpherson-5145.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5986,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/08\/24\/fun-with-a-juvenile-red-tailed-hawk\/","url_meta":{"origin":5429,"position":2},"title":"Fun With A Juvenile Red-tailed Hawk","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 24, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"While I was away in Montana for eight days starting last week I had a fantastic time photographing this juvenile Red-tailed Hawk.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Beaverhead County&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Beaverhead County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/montana\/beaverhead-county-montana\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Juvie Red-tailed Hawk right after lift off, Centennial Valley, Beaverhead County, Montana","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-montana-mia-mcpherson-8444.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-montana-mia-mcpherson-8444.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-montana-mia-mcpherson-8444.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-montana-mia-mcpherson-8444.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":47649,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/07\/11\/five-different-centennial-valley-red-tailed-hawks\/","url_meta":{"origin":5429,"position":3},"title":"Five Different Centennial Valley Red-tailed Hawks","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 11, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Red-tailed Hawks were my most photographed species yesterday morning in the Centennial Valley of southwestern Montana and I had fun with them.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Beaverhead County&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Beaverhead County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/montana\/beaverhead-county-montana\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Post-poop look from a Red-tailed Hawk, Centennial Valley, Beaverhead County, Montana","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-tailed-hawk-adult-post-poop-mia-mcpherson-9264.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-adult-post-poop-mia-mcpherson-9264.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-tailed-hawk-adult-post-poop-mia-mcpherson-9264.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-tailed-hawk-adult-post-poop-mia-mcpherson-9264.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8104,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/04\/14\/i-have-montanas-birds-on-my-mind\/","url_meta":{"origin":5429,"position":4},"title":"I Have Montana&#8217;s Birds On My Mind","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 14, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"This time of the year I start dreaming about the Centennial Valley of Montana and of the birds that call the valley home during the summer.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Beaverhead County&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Beaverhead County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/montana\/beaverhead-county-montana\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Centennial Valley Red-tailed Hawk juvenile, Beaverhead County, Montana","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-8431.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-8431.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-8431.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-8431.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9459,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/09\/13\/red-tailed-hawk-on-the-red-rocks-of-the-centennial-valley-finally\/","url_meta":{"origin":5429,"position":5},"title":"Red-tailed Hawk On The Red Rocks Of The Centennial Valley &#8211; Finally!","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 13, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Since my first visit to the Centennial Valley of Montana on June 18, 2010 I have wanted to photograph a bird; preferably a raptor, on the reddish orange lichen covered rocks found throughout the valley. On this last trip that finally happened!","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Beaverhead County&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Beaverhead County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/montana\/beaverhead-county-montana\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Young Red-tailed Hawk \u2013 I waited for this!, Centennial Valley, Beaverhead County, Montana","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-tailed-hawk-red-rock-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-5653.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-red-rock-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-5653.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-tailed-hawk-red-rock-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-5653.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-tailed-hawk-red-rock-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-5653.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5429","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5429"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5429\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/133338"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5429"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5429"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5429"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}