{"id":5946,"date":"2012-08-18T03:55:22","date_gmt":"2012-08-18T09:55:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=5946"},"modified":"2021-09-23T17:53:46","modified_gmt":"2021-09-23T23:53:46","slug":"ferruginous-hawk-in-beaverhead-county-montana","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/08\/18\/ferruginous-hawk-in-beaverhead-county-montana\/","title":{"rendered":"Ferruginous Hawk in Beaverhead County, Montana"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"FerruginousFerruginous Hawk in grasses – Nikon D300, f6.3, 1\/2000, ISO 500, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

I was thrilled to photograph this Ferruginous Hawk last month in Beaverhead County<\/span><\/a> while on a journey to southwestern Montana last month. In fact this hawk was the last bird I took images of on that trip.<\/p>\n

I love to say Ferruginous, I like the way the R’s roll off of my tongue and how saying it makes me giggle.<\/p>\n

The hawk had been on a fence post and it dove down into the grasses after prey, it must have missed because when it flew up to perch on a post again its talons were empty.<\/p>\n

\"FerruginousFerruginous Hawk perched on a fence post – Nikon D300, f6.3, 1\/2500, ISO 500, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

Ferruginous Hawks are the largest hawks found in North America. They inhabit low elevation, open areas in the western United States and some locations in southwestern Canada and winter in southwestern US and Mexico. They nest in trees and on the ground.<\/p>\n

\"YoungYoung Ferruginous Hawk in flight – Nikon D300, f6.3, 1\/2000, ISO 500, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

Ferruginous Hawks prey on rabbits, hares, prairie dogs, ground squirrels and when those prey items are scarce they will also eat fledgling birds, reptiles and amphibians. They have a lifespan of up to 20 years.<\/p>\n

I haven’t yet seen or photographed the dark form of the Ferruginous Hawk, I hope that I will be able to do that sometime soon.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Ferruginous Hawk photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ferruginous Hawks are the largest hawks found in North America. They inhabit low elevation, open areas in the western United States and some locations in southwestern Canada and winter in southwestern US and Mexico.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":95572,"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":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1513,27,223,1069,12,608],"tags":[2663,4268,2092,4052,4122,4109,4033,4169,5187,4104,153,5434],"class_list":["post-5946","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-beaverhead-county-montana","category-avian","category-centennial-valley","category-ferruginous-hawks","category-montana","category-red-rock-lakes-national-wildlife-refuge","tag-birds-of-prey","tag-buteo-regalis","tag-ferruginous-hawk","tag-flight","tag-flying","tag-grasses","tag-hawk","tag-hawks","tag-largest-hawks","tag-perched","tag-raptors","tag-valley"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/ferruginous-hawk-mia-mcpherson-5583.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-1xU","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":9112,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/08\/06\/what-is-the-last-thing-a-jackrabbit-might-see-a-ferruginous-hawk\/","url_meta":{"origin":5946,"position":0},"title":"What Is The Last Thing A Jackrabbit Might See – A Ferruginous Hawk","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 6, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Ferruginous Hawks west of the Continental Divide prefer rabbits as prey so what you see here might be the last thing a Cottontail or Jackrabbit might see.","rel":"","context":"In "Beaverhead County"","block_context":{"text":"Beaverhead County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/montana\/beaverhead-county-montana\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult Ferruginous Hawk gliding in for a landing, Centennial Valley, Beaverhead County, Montana","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/ferruginous-hawk-adult-flight-mia-mcpherson-6400.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/ferruginous-hawk-adult-flight-mia-mcpherson-6400.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/ferruginous-hawk-adult-flight-mia-mcpherson-6400.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/ferruginous-hawk-adult-flight-mia-mcpherson-6400.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7286,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/01\/27\/immature-red-tailed-rough-legged-ferruginous-and-swainsons-hawks\/","url_meta":{"origin":5946,"position":1},"title":"Immature Red-tailed, Rough-legged, Ferruginous and Swainson’s Hawks","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 27, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Today I thought I would post images of the juvenile Buteos that I see most often in Utah and Montana, they are Red-tailed, Rough-legged, Ferruginous and Swainson's Hawks.","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 Hawk juvenile and an intense stare, Centennial Valley, Beaverhead County, Montana","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-5148.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-5148.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-5148.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-5148.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8529,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/06\/06\/ferruginous-hawk-in-montana\/","url_meta":{"origin":5946,"position":2},"title":"Ferruginous Hawk in Montana","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 6, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Ferruginous Hawks fascinate me, they are large, handsome and regal raptors. This one just appears to me to be surveying its kingdom from the top of a ranch gate in the Centennial Valley.","rel":"","context":"In "Beaverhead County"","block_context":{"text":"Beaverhead County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/montana\/beaverhead-county-montana\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Royal Ferruginous Hawk surveying its kingdom, Centennial Valley, Beaverhead County, Montana","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/ferruginous-hawk-mia-mcpherson-8604.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/ferruginous-hawk-mia-mcpherson-8604.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/ferruginous-hawk-mia-mcpherson-8604.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":108965,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/12\/23\/immature-ferruginous-hawk-in-december\/","url_meta":{"origin":5946,"position":3},"title":"Immature Ferruginous Hawk In December","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 23, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"I was overjoyed to see an immature light morph Ferruginous Hawk in my viewfinder four years ago in December while I was out in Utah's West Desert.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Light morph Ferruginous Hawk with its eyes on the clouds, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/ferruginous-hawk-eyes-on-the-clouds-mia-mcpherson-5001.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/ferruginous-hawk-eyes-on-the-clouds-mia-mcpherson-5001.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/ferruginous-hawk-eyes-on-the-clouds-mia-mcpherson-5001.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/ferruginous-hawk-eyes-on-the-clouds-mia-mcpherson-5001.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":39950,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/06\/10\/low-light-ferruginous-hawk-in-flight-with-nesting-material\/","url_meta":{"origin":5946,"position":4},"title":"Low light Ferruginous Hawk in Flight with Nesting Material","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 10, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"I was able to create several images of this Ferruginous Hawk in flight with nesting materials over a field of sage and lupines despite the low light.","rel":"","context":"In "Beaverhead County"","block_context":{"text":"Beaverhead County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/montana\/beaverhead-county-montana\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Ferruginous Hawk in flight with nesting materials, Centennial Valley, Beaverhead County, Montana","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/ferruginous-hawk-nesting-materials-mia-mcpherson-2713.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/ferruginous-hawk-nesting-materials-mia-mcpherson-2713.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/ferruginous-hawk-nesting-materials-mia-mcpherson-2713.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/ferruginous-hawk-nesting-materials-mia-mcpherson-2713.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":118517,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/11\/24\/dark-morph-ferruginous-hawk-in-the-west-desert\/","url_meta":{"origin":5946,"position":5},"title":"Dark Morph Ferruginous Hawk In The West Desert","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 24, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Four years ago today, I found this gorgeous dark morph Ferruginous Hawk perched on a juniper fence post in the West Desert. 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