Sometimes raptors can look deadly serious and intense, especially when they are watching, diving on or consuming prey but they can appear to look a little goofy too. I’ve found that the goofiest and funniest images I take of raptors are from when I photograph them preening.
To see these photos larger in a slide show just click on the first image.
I spotted an immature Cooper’s Hawk on the first day of October this year high in a mountain canyon that spent quite a bit of time preening while perched on an old wooden fence rail. The young hawk stretched, preened, and scratched which gave me time to take a ton of photos of it. I couldn’t resist laughing a few times as I took photo after photo of the young Cooper’s scratching its chin, looking at its talons, preening its neck feathers and exposing its nictitating membrane. I took so many photos that I still haven’t gone through them all more than two months later.
Of course the goofiness I see is just the young Cooper’s Hawk doing what birds do and how I interpret what I see.
Not only do I look for birds everywhere I go, I also look for humor in nature.
Life is good.
Mia
Click here to see more of my Cooper’s Hawk photos plus facts and information about this species.
Amazing! He can still suck his toes!!! How many of us can do that!!!
What a stunner. I would be happy to look as ‘goofy’ as this charmer. A feat I don’t achieve. Ever.
Those neck feather and feathers under the chin are hard to get to!
It’s tough trying to preen those upper chest feathers, try and lick your upper chest and anyone would look goofy. VBG!!!
Really neat how the nictitating membrane is visible in the last frame!