{"id":62215,"date":"2019-12-26T06:45:52","date_gmt":"2019-12-26T13:45:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=62215"},"modified":"2021-09-23T13:20:27","modified_gmt":"2021-09-23T19:20:27","slug":"ferruginous-hawks-in-utah","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/12\/26\/ferruginous-hawks-in-utah\/","title":{"rendered":"Ferruginous Hawks in Utah"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"DarkDark morph Ferruginous Hawk surveying its habitat \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2000, ISO 800, -1.0 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

A few weeks ago I saw a local man on Facebook say it was great to see Ferruginous Hawks “back” in northern Utah and I have to admit that when I saw that statement I shook my head a bit because I know that if I am looking in the right<\/em> places I can see Ferruginous Hawks here year round.<\/p>\n

I found this dark morph Ferruginous Hawk on three separate trips to the West Desert last month and for all I know it may still be in that same general area, just because I didn’t see it on my last trip out there doesn’t mean the hawk has left the area. I think of it as a Schr\u00f6dinger’s hawk, both there and not there.<\/p>\n

The dark hawk could have been on the ground with prey and I could have missed spotting it because of that. Or it might have been tucked into a juniper or behind a hill and hidden from my sight.<\/p>\n

The habitat I first found this Ferruginous Hawk in is open terrain and I know there are rabbits to be found in the area.<\/p>\n

\"eBirdeBird Bar Chart Utah<\/span><\/p>\n

I can understand saying Swainson’s or Rough-legged Hawks are “back” in Utah because Swainson’s Hawks are here for their breeding season and head south for the winter while Rough-legged Hawks spend part of the winter here and head to the far north to breed. Neither species stays in state year round.<\/p>\n

\"AdultAdult light morph Ferruginous Hawk on the flats of Bear River MBR \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1600, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

Ferruginous Hawks, on the other hand, can be found year round in the state. I’ve personally found this species every month of the year in northern Utah. A few times I’ve found them in habitats that seemed unusual but those were mostly during spring and fall migration.<\/p>\n

\"LightLight morph adult Ferruginous Hawk in summer \u2013 Nikon D500, f8, 1\/1600, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

During the nesting season I look for Ferruginous Hawks in flat to rolling, open terrain with grasslands, sagebrush, and wide canyons with cliffs and rocky outcroppings or isolated juniper or pinyon pines which this species seeks for nesting. I also look for them near agricultural areas because of the availability of prey.<\/p>\n

\"ImmatureImmature light morph Ferruginous Hawk in autumn \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1600, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

During the winter into spring I often spot Ferruginous Hawks in wide open areas at low elevations perched on fences, power poles, hay bales, and water irrigation units.<\/p>\n

Knowing what kind of habitat Ferruginous Hawks prefer during all four seasons here in northern Utah can increase the chances of finding them year round. It works for me.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

Knowing what kind of habitat Ferruginous Hawks prefer during all four seasons here in northern Utah can increase the chances of finding them year round.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":95364,"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":[124,27,1148,1069,358,26,1314],"tags":[4004,8175,2663,8170,4268,2497,8172,2092,8176,7017,4038,4169,2386,8167,8171,153,747,2660,8173,8174,8177,8169,8168],"class_list":["post-62215","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge","category-avian","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-ferruginous-hawks","category-tooele-county","category-utah","category-west-desert-utah","tag-adult","tag-agricultural","tag-birds-of-prey","tag-breeding-habitat","tag-buteo-regalis","tag-buteos","tag-deserts","tag-ferruginous-hawk","tag-flat","tag-foothills","tag-grasslands","tag-hawks","tag-hawks-of-utah","tag-largest-buteo","tag-migration-habitat","tag-raptors","tag-rolling","tag-sagebrush-steppe","tag-saltbush-greasewood","tag-shrublands","tag-terrain","tag-winter-habitat","tag-year-round"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/ferruginous-hawk-dark-morph-perched-mia-mcpherson-4370.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-gbt","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":108965,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/12\/23\/immature-ferruginous-hawk-in-december\/","url_meta":{"origin":62215,"position":0},"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":118517,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/11\/24\/dark-morph-ferruginous-hawk-in-the-west-desert\/","url_meta":{"origin":62215,"position":1},"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. I spotted it from about a mile away.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Lifting off dark morph Ferruginous Hawk, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/ferruginous-hawk-dark-morph-west-desert-mia-mcpherson-4510.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/ferruginous-hawk-dark-morph-west-desert-mia-mcpherson-4510.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/ferruginous-hawk-dark-morph-west-desert-mia-mcpherson-4510.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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McPherson","date":"October 12, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"The past couple of weeks on some of my journeys to the West Desert of Utah I have been able to have a few long distance views of Ferruginous Hawks and that has me excited.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Rousing immature Ferruginous Hawk on a fence post in the West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/ferruginous-hawk-light-morph-immature-rousing-mia-mcpherson-7500.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-light-morph-immature-rousing-mia-mcpherson-7500.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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