We returned home yesterday afternoon from a camping/photo trip to southwestern Montana. Even though we were forced to return a few days earlier than we had planned because of bad weather we still had a grand time in beautiful country as we explored the back (dirt) roads looking for birds and adventure. We were rewarded on both counts.
Two days ago as I was photographing this dark morph Swainson’s Hawk on a power pole something completely unexpected happened and this time I was ready for it – the early morning light angle was good, I had the right focal length (no teleconverter attached) to capture the action without clipping anything and the bird was facing me. True, I didn’t get light in the eye in any of the action images and the perch is ugly but the behavior is well documented. I’ll take that trade-off.
Most shots in this post were taken at or near 1/2000, f/7.1, ISO 500, Canon 7D, Canon EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM. I was shooting at an awkward angle so image rotation was a problem. I had to choose between making the pole vertical or the cross-beam horizontal. I chose the latter.
Because of the unattractive perch I had removed my teleconverter in anticipation of take-off and at this point I was mostly just watching the bird through my lens. As usual I was shooting from my pickup so I was lucky that my peripheral vision picked up some unexpected movement through my upper windshield.
It was another raptor flying toward the dark Swainson’s. At first I didn’t know what species it was or what was about to happen so I just fired away and hoped for the best. It turned out to be another Swainson’s Hawk, this time an intermediate morph and it landed…
on the pole cross-beams near the dark morph.
Almost immediately the newly arrived hawk performed a near-dance move to…
approach the darker bird. Because of the head-down, seemingly submissive and inviting posture of the hawk on the right I suspected at this point that they were a mated pair and that the dark morph was the female.
The male very quickly mounted the female. Here we get a good look at some of the plumage differences between the intermediate and dark morphs.
As per usual, copulation was a balancing act for both birds. Here the female was knocked off-balance and used her left wing on the perch for support as the male attempted to gain his balance on her back.
For a moment I thought he might fall off…
but both birds recovered enough to continue.
The tail of the female is raised high and far to the side to allow the male access to her cloaca. Notice the flying down feathers dislodged by the activity, a dark one to the right and a white one by the upper part of the pole.
It is approximately at this point that the “cloacal kiss” and transfer of sperm occurs. It happened very quickly…
and just as quickly the male hopped off his precarious perch.
Both birds assumed these interesting poses for a moment…
and then faced each other in what appeared to be a “soulful” look after sex (it’s difficult for me to completely avoid anthropomorphism with behaviors like this…).
At this point both birds began an extended preening session and I moved on down the dirt road.
I do have a concern for the female. I passed this power pole many times on this trip and she was often on the same perch so I saw her quite a few times over several days. She often kept her right eye closed. It didn’t seem to matter whether or not that eye was facing the sun or what she was doing – the eye was closed more than it was open.
I suspect an eye injury but when the eye was open it appeared to be normal, she was able to fly and she had an attentive mate so if the eye was injured I have high hopes for her quick recovery.
Ron
Note- I plan on returning to this area several times over the summer and fall and I’ll admit to some curiosity about the genetics of Swainson’s Hawks – what color morphs will their youngsters be? I’ll be watching for them!
Also, if anyone knows how to get ahold of Patty Chadwick other than by email please let me know. At her request I’ve been emailing her links to my blog posts because of issues she has with her “evil iPad” but all three times I’ve tried to do that this morning the emails have been returned as undeliverable. I suspect her inbox might be full and she doesn’t yet know it.
Re: Patty Chadwick: I found her! She was hidden in NIGERIA!!! Yeah! Right! So glad I got to see this amazing series…FANTASTIC! Love the second to last image…sure would like to know what they’re thinkinh…
That dark-morph female is beautiful. Great image sequence Ron!
I agree, Neil – she is. Thank you.
Oh Ron. Welcome back – and thank you. Another fascinating series. And yes, it would be better than terrific to keep track of this pair. Which I hope you can.
My anthromorphic self is mourning (yet again) for the female in this ‘romantic’ interlude. It looks a very far from rewarding – or even comfortable – experience. On the positive side she is not in danger of being drowned.
Yeah, she’s probably thinking “at least I’m not a duck”, Elephant’s Child!
This is so beautiful to see. Your pictures are amazing! Every time I see a large bird on a power pole I keep wishing that the electric company would make these safer for birds. I have see too many accidents. I am looking forward to see what their babies look like too!!
I have those same thoughts when I see raptors on power poles, Debbie.
Ron what a spectacular welcome back post for all of us. Trying to see much of anything with the rapid mating of coops in our neighborhood makes me appreciate these photos even more. Thank you
I agree, Diana. If I’d only been watching this and not photographing it with a camera with a fast burst rate I’d never remember what I saw – most of it just happened too fast.
Glad to see that you are back even knowing that you’d still rather be “out there”.
Great images you brought.I will be in the front row to see how that story ends up.
Thanks for sharing.
I hope I learn the end of the story, Jorge. If I do I’ll report back.
Beautiful shots. Glad you were able to capture such an event. I watched a nest of Swanson’s one year from just before chicks branched to final flight. The next year I got to see them from fluffy grey puff balls just peaking over the nest edge to flight. They were intermediate morph in color at that time. Mom was definitely dark morph and dad was intermediate morph.
Very interesting, Tanja. I’m curious to find out if the same inheritance pattern you describe holds true for these birds.
Fantastic series. I’m a committed hawk follower. A photographer could go years without catching such a strikingly beautiful pair in the act, and in the right light! Well done!
Thanks very much, Dan – that means a lot.
First, welcome home! Second,WOW!!! Such a great series of photos. I also loved the dance shot as a prelude to what was about to happen. Her submissive posture was so interesting to me. Amazing series of photos. I hope you will be able to follow her. Here’s hoping for a very happy ending for the future hatchlings and for the Mother and her maybe injured eye.
Thank you on both counts, Ellen. It’s great to be home but I’d still rather be “out there”.
A nice tail appears to be so handy when flying. But it definitely complicates some other activities! Thank goodness they manage the act!
“A nice tail appears to be so handy when flying. But it definitely complicates some other activities!”
Well said, Mikal – so true.
What a fabulous connection you made! I really love the fancy little dance step. 😀
Thanks very much, Arwen.
Mr. Dudley, May I have your permission to share the link to this page with my fellow volunteers at Cascades Raptor Center? We have a dark morph Swainson’s Hawk there and I think they would love to see these photos. Fantastic shots. Thank you.
Sure, Michele – go for it. I’m a big fan of CRC and Louise Shimmel!
I hope you do see the progeny. How gratifying to know you’ve attended their conception! Congratulations on being well prepared and documenting such a remarkable moment…
“I hope you do see the progeny. How gratifying to know you’ve attended their conception!”
That would be fun, wouldn’t it, Alison? I’m going to make every possible attempt to do so.
Wow! What an amazing series of photos! I especially love the ‘near-dance’ move. Thank you for starting my day out so beautifully. And I’m glad you had a great trip.
Thanks for mentioning that you like that “dance” shot, Susan. I almost left it out because the bird was facing away but in the end I included it because I really liked his posture.
Excellent, excellent, excellent!!!! Wonderful series and terrific captures!
However, the science and genetics in me would love to see how the young turn out. I would think that their nest wouldn’t be far away!? Wouldn’t it be terrific to keep track of this pair? If for no other reasons but to check on the genetics of the young and the condition of the female?
Again, much appreciate the time and effort you took in photographing this series.
“Wouldn’t it be terrific to keep track of this pair? If for no other reasons but to check on the genetics of the young and the condition of the female?”
I hope to do precisely that, Dick. You and I think alike!