{"id":5986,"date":"2012-08-24T13:30:03","date_gmt":"2012-08-24T19:30:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=5986"},"modified":"2025-12-14T15:02:55","modified_gmt":"2025-12-14T21:02:55","slug":"fun-with-a-juvenile-red-tailed-hawk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/08\/24\/fun-with-a-juvenile-red-tailed-hawk\/","title":{"rendered":"Fun With A Juvenile Red-tailed Hawk"},"content":{"rendered":"

While I was away in Montana for eight days starting last week I had a fantastic time\u00a0photographing this juvenile Red-tailed Hawk. I posted one image of it while on the road which can be seen here<\/a><\/span>\u00a0and I could barely wait to share more photos of it.<\/p>\n

\"PerchedPerched juvenile Red-tailed Hawk – Nikon D300, f6.3, 1\/800, ISO 1000, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

When I first spotted the juvenile Red-tailed Hawk it was on a post eating prey. I will do a separate post about that later but for now I wanted to share these images.<\/p>\n

I liked the pose in this frame with the young hawk slightly fluffed up and standing on one leg with the other leg bent and the talons clenched.<\/p>\n

\"Red-tailedRed-tailed Hawk juvenile shaking – Nikon D300, f6.3, 1\/1600, ISO 1000, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

This\u00a0image shows the juvenile shaking its feathers and lifting its wings. It sure shows off the gorgeous plumage patterns of the breast.<\/p>\n

\"JuvenileJuvenile Red-tailed Hawk regaining its balance – Nikon D300, f6.3, 1\/2000, ISO 1000, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

A little while later it looked like the Red-tailed juvenile lost its balance and tried to get it back. It lifted its wings and tilted forward in this frame.<\/p>\n

\"Red-tailedRed-tailed Hawk juvenile in action – Nikon D300, f6.3, 1\/1600, ISO 1000, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 321mm, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

I backed up my zoom a bit because I thought the hawk might take off if it couldn’t get its balance and captured this pose where it fanned out its tail and dropped one wing down while lifting the other up. The young Red-tailed did regain its balance.<\/p>\n

\"JuvieJuvie Red-tailed Hawk right after lift off – Nikon D300, f6.3, 1\/2500, ISO 1000, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 321mm, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

It wasn’t long after the Red-tailed regained its balance before it lifted off from the fence post, I caught this pose soon after it got into the air. Those legs look so very long in this photo.<\/p>\n

\"JuvenileJuvenile Red-tailed Hawk looking at something in the distance – Nikon D300, f6.3, 1\/1600, ISO 1000, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

The juvenile flew to another fence post nearby and just looked around. I am not sure what it was looking at when I created this image but the pose reminds me of juvenile Burrowing Owls parallaxing.<\/p>\n

\"JuvenileJuvenile Red-tailed Hawk at the moment of lift off – Nikon D300, f6.3, 1\/3200, ISO 1000, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

When the Red-tailed Hawk<\/span><\/a> took off the final time it did not give me the best eye contact with this pose but I like that I can see the eye and a catch light plus the intensity of the look the bird has. I also like the position of the wings and the outstretched talons.<\/p>\n

\"GlidingGliding juvenile Red-tailed Hawk – Nikon D300, f6.3, 1\/2000, ISO 1000, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

Normally I wouldn’t keep an image like this with so little eye contact from my subject but again there were things I liked about this frame. I like the fanned tail, the dropped legs, and the nice view across the back and wings of the bird. I still can see the eye and the catch light and I am pleased with that.<\/p>\n

I’m sorry I haven’t had much time to look at and comment on all of your blogs, it will take me awhile to catch up with commenting, culling, resting, and getting used to being back home. Stay tuned for more photos from my trip to Montana!<\/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":"

While I was away in Montana for eight days starting last week I had a fantastic time photographing this juvenile Red-tailed Hawk.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":165907,"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":[1513,27,223,12,608,449],"tags":[2663,4170,3830,4052,4341,4033,4169,2237,4067,4071,4282,4104,4063,4209,1949],"class_list":["post-5986","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-beaverhead-county-montana","category-avian","category-centennial-valley","category-montana","category-red-rock-lakes-national-wildlife-refuge","category-red-tailed-hawks","tag-birds-of-prey","tag-buteo-jamaicensis","tag-fence","tag-flight","tag-hatch-year-bird","tag-hawk","tag-hawks","tag-hawks-of-montana","tag-immature","tag-juvenile","tag-lift-off","tag-perched","tag-raptor","tag-red-tailed-hawk","tag-western-red-tailed-hawk"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-montana-mia-mcpherson-8444.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-1yy","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6538,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/11\/08\/concentration-red-tailed-hawk-juvenile\/","url_meta":{"origin":5986,"position":0},"title":"Concentration – 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 "Beaverhead County"","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, 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2016","format":false,"excerpt":"These are a few of the Beaverhead County Red-tailed Hawks that I have photographed while on this trip to Montana and Idaho.","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":"Juvenile Red-tailed Hawk along the South Valley Road, Centennial Valley, Beaverhead County, Montana","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-tailed-hawk-juvenile-flight-miaa-mcpherson-4011.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-miaa-mcpherson-4011.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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On this last trip that finally happened!","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":"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\/5986","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=5986"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5986\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/165907"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5986"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5986"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5986"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}