{"id":57507,"date":"2019-04-28T05:53:03","date_gmt":"2019-04-28T11:53:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=57507"},"modified":"2026-01-21T15:48:31","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T21:48:31","slug":"male-red-tailed-hawk-resting-on-a-desert-cliff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/04\/28\/male-red-tailed-hawk-resting-on-a-desert-cliff\/","title":{"rendered":"Male Red-tailed Hawk Resting On A Desert Cliff"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"MaleMale Red-tailed Hawk resting on a cliff face in spring – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1600, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

I had a frustrating day yesterday in the field, part of it was because I’d see birds but couldn’t get to them before they took off.<\/p>\n

That started with a tom Wild Turkey display for four hens next to the road and by the time I was able to get back to where I could photograph them they were moving away from the road and into tall grasses.<\/p>\n

The best bird I spotted that I could photograph was a male Red-tailed Hawk resting on a cliff face and what I loved about this photo was all the grasses, lichen, wildflowers and the sage high up on the cliff.<\/p>\n

I know that some people think that the desert doesn’t have much “life” or that it all looks the same but after having lived here for nearly ten years I can say that simply isn’t so.<\/p>\n

Just this frame of a Red-tailed Hawk on a cliff face in the desert shows how much life there is.<\/p>\n

There is the hawk of course but there are several different species of lichen on the rocks, some sunny yellow wildflowers, grasses, sagebrush, a rabbitbrush and some kind of mat-forming plant I will try to ID later when it is in bloom.<\/p>\n

Of course there is other “life” in this photo that isn’t visible which may include insects, spiders and invertebrates. Plus this photo only shows a very small area of the whole cliff face, there is so much more to see on it.<\/p>\n

Many of the Red-tailed Hawks<\/span><\/a> in the lower elevations of Utah are already incubating eggs so it won’t be all that long before those eggs hatch and they will have hungry chicks to feed and the desert area where this hawk’s family is will provide the food for them to grow.<\/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":"

The best bird I spotted that I could photograph was a male Red-tailed Hawk resting on a cliff face and what I loved about this photo was all the grasses, lichen, wildflowers and the sage high up on the cliff. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":150544,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","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":[4004,2663,4170,2497,5131,5100,4098,4033,4169,2386,3291,4062,153,5414,4209,4156,4018,165,4307,5063],"class_list":["post-57507","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-adult","tag-birds-of-prey","tag-buteo-jamaicensis","tag-buteos","tag-cliff","tag-cliff-face","tag-desert","tag-hawk","tag-hawks","tag-hawks-of-utah","tag-lichen","tag-male","tag-raptors","tag-red-tail","tag-red-tailed-hawk","tag-resting","tag-sky","tag-spring","tag-wildflowers","tag-yellow-wildflowers"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/red-tailed-hawk-male-cliff-face-mia-mcpherson-5607.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-eXx","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":57738,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/05\/10\/male-red-tailed-hawk-with-yellow-wildflowers\/","url_meta":{"origin":57507,"position":0},"title":"Male Red-tailed Hawk With Yellow Wildflowers","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 10, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"What is better than photographing a male Red-tailed Hawk? Photographing the hawk with blooming wildflowers, in this case Gray's Biscuitroot.\u00a0","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Red-tailed Hawk with yellow wildflowers, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-tailed-hawk-male-grays-biscuitroot-mia-mcpherson-1932.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-male-grays-biscuitroot-mia-mcpherson-1932.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-tailed-hawk-male-grays-biscuitroot-mia-mcpherson-1932.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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Time","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 28, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Among the birds I found was a desert dwelling Red-tailed Hawk adult who was busy refurbishing a nest on a cliff face.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Red-tailed Hawk resting on a cliff face in bitter cold temps, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/red-tailed-hawk-adult-cliff-face-desert-mia-mcpherson-5336.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/red-tailed-hawk-adult-cliff-face-desert-mia-mcpherson-5336.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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McPherson","date":"April 4, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"I appreciate it when I can photograph Red-tailed Hawks on Cliff faces well away from the man made objects including power poles and wires, fence posts and barbed wire","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Red-tailed Hawk on a lichen covered cliff face, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-tailed-hawk-lichen-cliff-face-mia-mcpherson-8841.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-lichen-cliff-face-mia-mcpherson-8841.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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