{"id":75711,"date":"2020-12-04T05:49:03","date_gmt":"2020-12-04T12:49:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=75711"},"modified":"2026-01-24T11:17:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-24T17:17:12","slug":"immature-red-tailed-hawk-harassed-by-a-northern-harrier","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/12\/04\/immature-red-tailed-hawk-harassed-by-a-northern-harrier\/","title":{"rendered":"Immature Red-tailed Hawk Harassed By A Northern Harrier"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ImmatureImmature Red-tailed Hawk perched on a post in the marsh \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/3200, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

I found an immature Red-tailed Hawk in the marsh at Farmington Bay WMA yesterday and spent 28 minutes photographing it including when a Northern Harrier harassed it. I’ll post more photos of this stunning young Red-tailed Hawk another day but today I wanted to share photos of it before, during, and after the Northern Harrier flew past it.<\/p>\n

In this photo the immature Red-tailed Hawk was resting on its perch while it looked around for prey in the marsh.<\/p>\n

\"ImmatureImmature Red-tailed Hawk looking alert \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/3200, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

Then through my viewfinder I saw the young Red tail hunker down, flatten the feathers on its head and stare at something that was outside of my viewfinder. I started firing a burst of images because this young raptor’s behavior told me something was about to happen.<\/p>\n

\"ImmatureImmature Red-tailed Hawk in a defensive posture \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/3200, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

The posture of the immature Red-tailed Hawk changed again and became more defensive. At this point I kept firing shots in a burst.<\/p>\n

\"ImmatureImmature Red-tailed Hawk after being harassed by a Northern Harrier \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/3200, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

Through my viewfinder I could see that it was a Northern Harrier that had flown in to harass the immature Red-tailed Hawk. Unfortunately all I caught of the harrier in any of my photos was its feet, talons, and tail.<\/p>\n

I didn’t crop this image as tight as the others in this post so that I could show the harrier in it.<\/p>\n

\"ImmatureImmature Red-tailed Hawk after a Northern Harrier flew over \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/3200, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

After the harrier flew by the young Red-tailed Hawk settled back down and after a few seconds began to relax its posture.<\/p>\n

I don’t think this young Red-tailed Hawk<\/span><\/a> could have had a wider wide-eyed look after the harrier left!<\/p>\n

I wish I had been able to get more of the Northern Harrier in my photos but when you are photographing nature sometimes you get lucky and sometimes you don’t.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

By the way, about two years ago I photographed another immature Red-tailed Hawk lifting off from this exact perch, it can be seen here<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

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

I found an immature Red-tailed Hawk in the marsh at Farmington Bay WMA yesterday and spent 28 minutes photographing it including when a Northern Harrier harassed it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":167529,"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":[27,1022,697,348,449,26],"tags":[4540,2663,4170,2497,765,763,10685,2783,3164,4033,4169,2386,4067,4094,10684,6613,4006,4104,4059,6428,5497,4394,153,5414,4209,10686,373,4193],"class_list":["post-75711","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-davis-county-utah","category-farmington-bay-wma","category-northern-harriers","category-red-tailed-hawks","category-utah","tag-alert","tag-birds-of-prey","tag-buteo-jamaicensis","tag-buteos","tag-circus-hudsonius","tag-defensive-posture","tag-harassed","tag-harrier","tag-harriers","tag-hawk","tag-hawks","tag-hawks-of-utah","tag-immature","tag-marsh","tag-metal-pole","tag-metal-post","tag-northern-harrier","tag-perched","tag-phragmites","tag-phrags","tag-pole","tag-post","tag-raptors","tag-red-tail","tag-red-tailed-hawk","tag-wide-eyed","tag-winter","tag-young"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-tailed-hawk-immature-marsh-mia-mcpherson-7624.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-jH9","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":108469,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/12\/04\/immature-red-tailed-hawk-in-a-safety-zone\/","url_meta":{"origin":75711,"position":0},"title":"Immature 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"Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Immature Red-tailed Hawk on a nest box in early morning light, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/red-tailed-hawk-immature-nestbox-mia-mcpherson-0726.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/red-tailed-hawk-immature-nestbox-mia-mcpherson-0726.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/red-tailed-hawk-immature-nestbox-mia-mcpherson-0726.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/red-tailed-hawk-immature-nestbox-mia-mcpherson-0726.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/northern-harrier-hatch-year-female-flight-mia-mcpherson-2819.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/northern-harrier-hatch-year-female-flight-mia-mcpherson-2819.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/northern-harrier-hatch-year-female-flight-mia-mcpherson-2819.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/northern-harrier-hatch-year-female-flight-mia-mcpherson-2819.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":77258,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/01\/04\/first-winter-red-tailed-hawk-lift-off-photos\/","url_meta":{"origin":75711,"position":3},"title":"First Winter Red-tailed Hawk Lift Off Photos","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 4, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Last month I spent twenty-eight lovely minutes photographing this first winter Red-tailed Hawk in the marsh at Farmington Bay WMA.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"First winter Red-tailed Hawk a split second before lift off, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/red-tailed-hawk-immature-perched-mia-mcpherson-7715.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/red-tailed-hawk-immature-perched-mia-mcpherson-7715.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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Yesterday that bird was an immature Red-tailed Hawk at Farmington Bay WMA that lifted off from a metal post and flew over the marsh.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Immature Red-tailed Hawk lifting off from a metal pole, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/red-tailed-hawk-immature-lift-off-mia-mcpherson-7633.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/red-tailed-hawk-immature-lift-off-mia-mcpherson-7633.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/red-tailed-hawk-immature-lift-off-mia-mcpherson-7633.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/red-tailed-hawk-immature-lift-off-mia-mcpherson-7633.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":108353,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/11\/28\/immature-red-tailed-hawk-head-on-stare\/","url_meta":{"origin":75711,"position":5},"title":"Immature Red-tailed Hawk Head On Stare","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 28, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"If I were a vole, I'd tremble in fear under the head on stare of this immature Red-tailed Hawk that I photographed last week at Farmington Bay WMA.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Immature Red-tailed Hawk head on stare, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/red-tailed-hawk-immature-mia-mcpherson-4805.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/red-tailed-hawk-immature-mia-mcpherson-4805.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/red-tailed-hawk-immature-mia-mcpherson-4805.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/red-tailed-hawk-immature-mia-mcpherson-4805.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\/75711","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=75711"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75711\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/167529"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75711"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75711"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75711"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}