{"id":74760,"date":"2020-10-19T06:08:34","date_gmt":"2020-10-19T12:08:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=74760"},"modified":"2025-10-01T14:04:25","modified_gmt":"2025-10-01T19:04:25","slug":"on-the-lookout-for-rough-legged-hawks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/10\/19\/on-the-lookout-for-rough-legged-hawks\/","title":{"rendered":"On The Lookout For Rough-Legged Hawks"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"DarkDark morph Rough-legged Hawk resting on snow-covered ground<\/span><\/p>\n

When colder weather arrives here in northern Utah I know it is time for me to be on the lookout for Rough-legged Hawks.<\/p>\n

Another cold front is due to arrive here on Thursday and I’m sitting here wondering if it will be the front that pushes these arctic breeding hawks into areas where I can see them again.<\/p>\n

This year I’ve already been on the lookout scanning the skies, trees, power poles, cliff faces, and fence posts.<\/p>\n

\"ImmatureImmature Rough-legged Hawk perched on a snow-covered cliff<\/span><\/p>\n

Rough-legged Hawks breed in the Arctic tundra and taigas and when fall comes they head south for the winter.<\/p>\n

Rough-legged Hawks are one of two hawk species in North America that have feathered legs, Ferruginous Hawks also have feathered legs and are year round residents in Utah.<\/p>\n

\"HighHigh Key adult Rough-legged Hawk male<\/span><\/p>\n

I’ve found that some Rough-legged Hawks are easily approachable and others will take flight when you are half a mile away.<\/p>\n

Others will spook if you slow down your vehicle or if your vehicle makes a stupid dinging noise when it comes to a stop.<\/p>\n

A few are very confiding and don’t seem phased by human presence at all.<\/p>\n

This male Rough-legged Hawk was getting ready to expel a pellet when I drove up on him in a foggy snow storm.<\/p>\n

\"ImmatureImmature Rough-legged Hawk looking over the marsh at Bear River MBR<\/span><\/p>\n

Rough-legged Hawks prefer open areas. I find these raptors most often in the desert, sagebrush, grasslands, fields, pastures, foothills, prairies, agricultural areas and marshes.<\/p>\n

I’ve never found one near a forest.<\/p>\n

\"ImmatureImmature Rough-legged Hawk carrying prey in its talons to a perch<\/span><\/p>\n

Rough-legged Hawks can hover in flight while hunting and then dive on their prey once they spot it on the ground. Here in northern Utah the prey I see them take most often are voles.<\/p>\n

\"ImmatureImmature Rough-legged Hawk diving towards prey<\/span><\/p>\n

I’m hoping that this week I’ll be able to spot my first of the season Rough-legged Hawks and that I’ll be able to get photos of them too. Fingers are crossed!<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

These Rough-legged Hawk images were taken at Antelope Island State Park, Farmington Bay WMA, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, and far northern Utah.<\/em><\/p>\n

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

I’m hoping that this week I’ll be able to spot my first of the season Rough-legged Hawks and that I’ll be able to get photos of them too. Fingers are crossed!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":158838,"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":[511,124,27,1148,1022,697,1087,26],"tags":[2663,4275,4478,4159,4052,4122,4033,4169,2386,4067,4094,4106,153,1648,373],"class_list":["post-74760","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-antelope-island-state-park","category-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge","category-avian","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-davis-county-utah","category-farmington-bay-wma","category-rough-legged-hawks","category-utah","tag-birds-of-prey","tag-buteo-lagopus","tag-dive","tag-diving","tag-flight","tag-flying","tag-hawk","tag-hawks","tag-hawks-of-utah","tag-immature","tag-marsh","tag-prey","tag-raptors","tag-rough-legged-hawk","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/rough-legged-hawk-immature-snow-mia-mcpherson-3435.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-jrO","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":96216,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/10\/13\/on-the-lookout-for-my-first-of-season-rough-legged-hawk\/","url_meta":{"origin":74760,"position":0},"title":"On The Lookout For My First Of Season Rough-legged Hawk","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 13, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"I am now on the lookout for my first of season Rough-legged Hawk. I hope to spot one soon.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult male light morph Rough-legged Hawk on a rock pile, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/rough-legged-hawk-adult-male-rocks-and-mountains-mia-mcpherson-4354.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/rough-legged-hawk-adult-male-rocks-and-mountains-mia-mcpherson-4354.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/rough-legged-hawk-adult-male-rocks-and-mountains-mia-mcpherson-4354.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/rough-legged-hawk-adult-male-rocks-and-mountains-mia-mcpherson-4354.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":107524,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/10\/25\/rough-legged-hawk-season-has-begun\/","url_meta":{"origin":74760,"position":1},"title":"Rough-legged Hawk Season Has Begun","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 25, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Rough-legged Hawk season has begun in northern Utah. I spotted my first of season Rough-legged Hawks on the wing last Friday.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male light morph Rough-legged Hawk on a February morning, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/rough-legged-hawk-adult-male-info-sign-mia-mcpherson-9795.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/rough-legged-hawk-adult-male-info-sign-mia-mcpherson-9795.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Rough-legged Hawk in dense fog at Bear River MBR, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/rough-legged-hawk-dense-fog-mia-mcpherson-9937.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/rough-legged-hawk-dense-fog-mia-mcpherson-9937.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/rough-legged-hawk-dense-fog-mia-mcpherson-9937.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/rough-legged-hawk-dense-fog-mia-mcpherson-9937.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/rough-legged-hawk-bear-river-mia-mcpherson-1751.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/rough-legged-hawk-bear-river-mia-mcpherson-1751.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/rough-legged-hawk-bear-river-mia-mcpherson-1751.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/rough-legged-hawk-bear-river-mia-mcpherson-1751.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":100107,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/02\/20\/immature-rough-legged-hawk-perched-on-a-tumbleweed\/","url_meta":{"origin":74760,"position":4},"title":"Immature Rough-legged Hawk Perched On A Tumbleweed","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 20, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"I was delighted to spot, point out, and photograph this immature light morph Rough-legged Hawk that was perched on a tumbleweed at Bear River MBR yesterday morning.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Immature light morph Rough-legged Hawk perched on a tumbleweed, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/rough-legged-hawk-immature-tumbleweed-mia-mcpherson-4666.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/rough-legged-hawk-immature-tumbleweed-mia-mcpherson-4666.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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