{"id":9112,"date":"2013-08-06T03:45:27","date_gmt":"2013-08-06T09:45:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=9112"},"modified":"2026-02-02T08:46:27","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T14:46:27","slug":"what-is-the-last-thing-a-jackrabbit-might-see-a-ferruginous-hawk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/08\/06\/what-is-the-last-thing-a-jackrabbit-might-see-a-ferruginous-hawk\/","title":{"rendered":"What Is The Last Thing A Jackrabbit Might See – A Ferruginous Hawk"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AdultFerruginous Hawk gliding – Nikon D300, f6.3, 1\/1600, ISO 500, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

Ferruginous Hawks west of the Continental Divide prefer rabbits as prey so what you see here might be the last thing a\u00a0Cottontail or Jackrabbit might see.\u00a0 I’m glad I am not a rabbit!<\/p>\n

I photographed this Ferruginous Hawk<\/span><\/a> in the Centennial Valley of Montana, it wasn’t actually going after prey, it was gliding in towards a power pole to land on top of it.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

Ferruginous Hawks west of the Continental Divide prefer rabbits as prey so what you see here might be the last thing a Cottontail or Jackrabbit might see.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":95543,"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":[1513,27,1069,12],"tags":[4004,2663,4268,2497,4026,2092,4052,4122,1991,4033,4169,2237,2670,343,153,4018,2315,5434],"class_list":["post-9112","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-beaverhead-county-montana","category-avian","category-ferruginous-hawks","category-montana","tag-adult","tag-birds-of-prey","tag-buteo-regalis","tag-buteos","tag-centennial-valley","tag-ferruginous-hawk","tag-flight","tag-flying","tag-gliding","tag-hawk","tag-hawks","tag-hawks-of-montana","tag-light-morph","tag-photography","tag-raptors","tag-sky","tag-summer-3","tag-valley"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/ferruginous-hawk-adult-flight-mia-mcpherson-6400.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-2mY","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5946,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/08\/18\/ferruginous-hawk-in-beaverhead-county-montana\/","url_meta":{"origin":9112,"position":0},"title":"Ferruginous Hawk in Beaverhead County, Montana","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 18, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Ferruginous Hawks are the largest hawks found in North America. They inhabit low elevation, open areas in the western United States and some locations in southwestern Canada and winter in southwestern US and Mexico.","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 Ferruginous Hawk in flight, Centennial Valley, Beaverhead County, Montana","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/ferruginous-hawk-mia-mcpherson-5583.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-mia-mcpherson-5583.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/ferruginous-hawk-mia-mcpherson-5583.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/ferruginous-hawk-mia-mcpherson-5583.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":108965,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/12\/23\/immature-ferruginous-hawk-in-december\/","url_meta":{"origin":9112,"position":1},"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":9112,"position":2},"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, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/ferruginous-hawk-dark-morph-west-desert-mia-mcpherson-4510.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8529,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/06\/06\/ferruginous-hawk-in-montana\/","url_meta":{"origin":9112,"position":3},"title":"Ferruginous Hawk in Montana","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 6, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Ferruginous Hawks fascinate me, they are large, handsome and regal raptors. This one just appears to me to be surveying its kingdom from the top of a ranch gate in the Centennial Valley.","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":"Royal Ferruginous Hawk surveying its kingdom, Centennial Valley, Beaverhead County, Montana","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/ferruginous-hawk-mia-mcpherson-8604.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-mia-mcpherson-8604.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/ferruginous-hawk-mia-mcpherson-8604.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7286,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/01\/27\/immature-red-tailed-rough-legged-ferruginous-and-swainsons-hawks\/","url_meta":{"origin":9112,"position":4},"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":39950,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/06\/10\/low-light-ferruginous-hawk-in-flight-with-nesting-material\/","url_meta":{"origin":9112,"position":5},"title":"Low light Ferruginous Hawk in Flight with Nesting Material","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 10, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"I was able to create several images of this Ferruginous Hawk in flight with nesting materials over a field of sage and lupines despite the low light.","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":"Ferruginous Hawk in flight with nesting materials, Centennial Valley, Beaverhead County, Montana","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/ferruginous-hawk-nesting-materials-mia-mcpherson-2713.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-nesting-materials-mia-mcpherson-2713.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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