{"id":8175,"date":"2013-04-23T03:45:00","date_gmt":"2013-04-23T09:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=8175"},"modified":"2026-04-01T13:03:06","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T18:03:06","slug":"adult-swainsons-hawk-portrait","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/04\/23\/adult-swainsons-hawk-portrait\/","title":{"rendered":"Adult Swainson’s Hawk Portrait"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Swainson'sAdult Swainson’s Hawk portrait – Nikon D200, f9, 1\/250, ISO 400, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

I photographed this hawk in May of 2011 and soon after I photographed it I made a post about the bird here on my blog. The other day I came across that post and felt very embarrassed because on that post I realized I had incorrectly ID’d this bird as a Red-tailed Hawk.<\/p>\n

I must have been distracted, having my brain picked, or in a hurry to make the wrong ID but it does show that no matter how well you know your bird ID a mistake can be made.<\/p>\n

I’ve corrected my previous post that had images of this bird in it.<\/p>\n

And I have completely washed the egg off of my face \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Swainson\u2019s Hawk photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The other day I came across that post and felt very embarrassed because on that post I realized I had incorrectly ID’d this bird as a Red-tailed Hawk.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8174,"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":[511,27,206,26],"tags":[4004,58,4200,4142,4005,4033,4169,4046,153,4034],"class_list":["post-8175","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-antelope-island-state-park","category-avian","category-swainson-hawks","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-antelope-island-sp","tag-buteo-swainsoni","tag-close-up","tag-great-salt-lake","tag-hawk","tag-hawks","tag-portrait","tag-raptors","tag-swainsons-hawk"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/swainsons-hawk-adult-portrait-mia-mcpherson-8502.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-27R","jetpack_sharing_enabled":false,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":105569,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/08\/29\/dark-morph-swainsons-hawk-photos\/","url_meta":{"origin":8175,"position":0},"title":"Dark Morph Swainson’s Hawk Photos","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 29, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Early yesterday morning on my way to the auto tour route at Bear River MBR I was delighted to see and photograph not just one dark morph Swainson's Hawk but two.","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":"Adult dark morph Swainson's Hawk in lift off pose, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, 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2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Last Friday I came upon this Swainson's Hawk; not just once but twice, perched on signs very close to the road.","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":"Adult Swainson's Hawk portrait with the Great Salt Lake in the background","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/swainsons-hawk-portrait-mia-mcpherson-8379.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/swainsons-hawk-portrait-mia-mcpherson-8379.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/swainsons-hawk-portrait-mia-mcpherson-8379.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/swainsons-hawk-portrait-mia-mcpherson-8379.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":8175,"position":2},"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":8552,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/06\/09\/swainsons-hawks-in-montana-and-the-chase-is-on\/","url_meta":{"origin":8175,"position":3},"title":"Swainson’s Hawks In Montana – And The Chase Is On","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 9, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"I've just returned from spending six wonderful days photographing in western Montana, the weather was lovely, the scenery spectacular and the birds; as usual, were awesome including these two Swainson's Hawks.","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":"Swainson\u2019s Hawk in its first spring, Centennial Valley, Beaverhead County, Montana","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/swainson-hawk-second-year-mia-mcpherson-7341.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/swainson-hawk-second-year-mia-mcpherson-7341.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/swainson-hawk-second-year-mia-mcpherson-7341.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/swainson-hawk-second-year-mia-mcpherson-7341.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9300,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/08\/28\/the-summer-of-swainsons-is-nearing-an-end\/","url_meta":{"origin":8175,"position":4},"title":"The Summer of Swainson’s Is Nearing An End","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 28, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"It won't be long before Swainson's Hawks start to migrate to South America and some may already have started their journey south.","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":"Swainson's Hawk adult gliding by","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/swainsonshawk-adult-light-mia-mcpherson-3220.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/swainsonshawk-adult-light-mia-mcpherson-3220.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/swainsonshawk-adult-light-mia-mcpherson-3220.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/swainsonshawk-adult-light-mia-mcpherson-3220.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9067,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/08\/01\/two-different-swainsons-hawks\/","url_meta":{"origin":8175,"position":5},"title":"Two different Swainson’s Hawks","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 1, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Red-tailed Hawks have the most variable plumages of North American hawks but Swainson's Hawks are also pretty variable, there are light morphs, intermediate morphs and dark morphs.","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 Swainson's Hawk intermediate 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