Category Archives: Prairie Animals

CORRECTION to Photo of the Week

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Earlier today, I posted about my very fortunate encounter with a hawk in the Nebraska Sandhills.  At the time I took the photos, a couple biologists with me identified the bird as a juvenile ferruginous hawk, and I (being mostly a bug and flower kind of guy) went along happily with their identification.  After I posted the photos, however, several people correctly pointed out the features that indicate that it was actually a juvenile red-tailed hawk.  I’ve edited the post to reflect the correct identification and added a brief clarification as well.

Thank you to those of you who responded (and did so politely!) to let me know of the error.  Although I’m pretty good at identifying most prairie birds, I have certainly never claimed to be an expert at hawks, especially the buteos (broad-winged soaring hawks).  In fact, and this is particularly ironic, because of the abundance of red-tailed hawks around here, I usually just call everything a red-tailed hawk unless it’s clearly a Swainson’s or rough-legged hawk, because those are the only other two I can identify!

Here is an additional photo of the RED-TAILED HAWK.  Regardless of species, it was a pretty amazing experience to get so close to such a large and beautiful bird.

This bird is obviously a juvenile red-tailed hawk, judging by its band of spots across its belly and the lack of feathers on its legs. Any prairie ecologist worth his salt would recognize it as such...

This bird is obviously a juvenile red-tailed hawk, judging by its bill size, band of spots across its belly and the lack of feathers on its lower legs. Any prairie ecologist worth his salt would recognize it as such…

Photo of the Week – September 16, 2016

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NOTE: This post originally misidentified this hawk as a juvenile ferruginous hawk, but after some helpful comments from readers and confirmation from a couple other experts, I have edited the post to make it clear that it is, indeed, a red-tailed hawk. 

A juvenile ferruginous hawk

A juvenile red-tailed hawk in a prairie dog town.  Garden County, Nebraska.

As I’ve said many times, I am not a wildlife photographer.  I stalk insects and flowers, and try to take a few scenic photos, but I don’t have the equipment, time, or patience to be a real wildlife photographer.  Thus, I don’t have a lot of photos of birds, deer, or other wildlife.  The few photos I do have of those wildlife species come from opportunities I don’t really deserve, but am lucky enough to get anyway.  For example, I posted about an evening photographing prairie dogs back in July when, for no good reason, a prairie dog and her pups let me get within about 15 feet of them with my camera.

Last month, on a trip to the Nebraska Sandhills, I got another inexplicable chance to photograph wildlife without really trying.  I didn’t set up a photo blind weeks beforehand, crawl into it in pitch darkness, and spend fruitless day after fruitless day waiting for a red-tailed hawk to land in the right place at the right time.  Nope.  Instead, I saw a hawk and drove over to get a closer look.

I drove slowly, watching for signs of agitation so I could stop before it flew off.  There was no agitation.  The hawk just stared at me as I drove within 25 feet or so, BACKED UP in a half circle to get a better angle, drove a little closer, GOT OUT OF THE VEHICLE, crouched down next to the vehicle, and took some photos.  It wasn’t right, it wasn’t fair, it shouldn’t have happened, but it did.  As a result, here are some photos I took of a red-tailed hawk this summer…

Ferruginous hawk

The red-tailed hawk staring at me as I knelt on the ground with my camera and took its picture from 15 feet away.

The hawk didn’t appear to be injured in any way, and I saw it fly and land in the spot where I photographed it.  The only justification I can come up with for its behavior is that it was a young bird, but even that doesn’t really make sense.  Even a young bird should be afraid of a noisy vehicle driving toward it and a funny looking bipedal creature emerging from the vehicle holding some kind of black object.  I hope the hawk changed its attitude toward strangers before meeting a coyote, for example, that wasn’t quite as innocuous as a surprised and grateful photographer.