Adult Red-tailed Hawk defecating prior to take off – Nikon D810, f7.1, 1/1600, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited
I spent yesterday morning out in the West Desert of Utah looking for and photographing birds. The bird action was slow and except for the Ferruginous and Red-tailed Hawks that I found I didn’t photograph many species.
I don’t normally like to head out there on Fridays during this part of the year because a lot of people head out to go camping and that can make places I usually like to park to look for birds kind of a crapshoot.
Speaking of crapshoots…
I found this adult Red-tailed Hawk while I was keeping my eyes on two Ferruginous Hawks, one to the west and one to the north. This adult Red-tail landed on a nearby fence post while I took a few images of one of the Ferruginous Hawks. I was hoping that I would be able to take nice images of the hawk lifting off.
When the Red-tailed Hawk took a pre-flight poop I thought I’d get my chance at those lift off and flight photos.
Then a noisy pickup drove by and the Red-tailed Hawk took to the air with its back to me.
Well, poop.
Life is good.
Mia
Click here to see more of my Red-tailed Hawk photos plus facts and information about this species.
I’m impressed! This RTH really knows how to get the job done. Thanks Mia.
Good story and great shot!
I got a similar Cormorant poop shot a couple of weeks ago! Bummer about the truck. S… happens! 😁
Better out than in.
Thanks Mia for the explanation.
When you gotta go, you gotta go.
Fantastic action shot! Love it!
I need some help here. Is this Red-tail an intermediate between the Dark Morph “Harlan’s” and the light morph Krider’s? Our Red-tails here in the East have a distinct belly band over white or off-white belly. This picture looks like very similar to the drawing/picture on page 289 of National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America, without them saying it is an intermediate. There just seems to be several color variations of Red-tails as one travels West. Many thanks in advance for any clarification.
Dick, this is a fairly typical looking Western Red-tailed Hawk, Buteo jamaicensis calurus. They are extremely variable color wise from dark, to intermediate, to light. The rufous form of the Western Red-tailed Hawk is striking but they can also be lighter in color with distinct bellybands. Probably not as light as the Red-tailed Hawks you see back east (Buteo jamaicensis borealis) though. Since moving to Utah I have only seen one borealis ( https://www.onthewingphotography.com/wings/portfolio-items/a-red-tailed-hawk-perched-on-a-power-pole/ ) and that was in the middle of winter. We get the the Harlan’s subspecies here in the winter but I haven’t seen a Krider’s here on the west side of the Rock Mountains.