Adult Red-tailed Hawk In Full Flight

Think about it.

In a very high percentage of raptor flight shots the bird has either just taken off or it’s high in the sky and the viewer is looking up at its belly. I often like both types of images and regular readers know I have a special affinity for take-off shots, partly because take-off postures can be so dramatic. And there’s good reason why most raptor flight shots fit into one of those categories – for a variety of reasons those types of images of raptors are easier to get than photos of them in full flight at or near eye level. To capture a raptor in full flight at eye level and in a side view typically requires a technique called panning and it isn’t easy to maintain focus on a bird moving fast across your field of view.

The best indicator that a bird is in full flight rather than having just taken off is the position of its legs and feet. The process of lift-off usually requires the bird to push off with its legs and the legs typically remain in or near “push-off position” for several wing-strokes after launch. But when airspeed and stability have been reached they tuck their legs and feet tightly up under their tail.

 

red-tailed hawk 1907 ron dudley1/4000, f/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in

I photographed this adult Red-tailed Hawk about a week ago near Utah’s Promontory Mountains. I actually lost focus on the bird soon after it took off but I was able to reacquire a few seconds later. By that time it had reached sufficient airspeed to tuck its legs so it’s in what I call “full flight”.

Without question I have raptor flight shots that many viewers would find more interesting than this one, especially considering the rather bland background. But for me there’s always an extra layer of appeal for an image of a majestic raptor with its legs fully tucked and in full flight.

That appeal (for me) is largely because those types of images are harder to get but not everyone will agree with that perspective and that’s ok.

Different strokes for different folks…

Ron

 

34 Comments

  1. Hey Ron, Don’t know how I missed your blog from yesterday but even though I’m late I had to post. I will also admit that seeing the subject was a Red-tailed Hawk I had to read Laura’s post and your response since I knew it would be interesting – and it was!!. I first have to thank you for another important photography lesson for me – lots of good, tested advice!! Then I have to thank you for this wonderful Raptor capture and I admire it even more because of what it took to get it. I SO love Raptors – majestic birds at the apex of the pyramid of Nature’s birds!! They just blow me away and since I haven’t seen many in real life, your photos give me the chance to see them through your photos. Thanks again, Ron – keep them coming!!!

    • Hey Jo Ann, ain’t Ron just wonderful? I’ve learned SO much, albeit not about photography since I’ve given up on my ability to do anything but passable snapshots…SIGH! But general bird stuff–WOW (insert string of superlatives here)!

      • Hi Laura – I SO agree with you on the subject of Ron – he just blows me away with the quality and the number of birds he captures with pixels and shares with us!! I have to tell you though that I always look forward to your posts and had to read yours as soon as I saw Ron’s blog was about a Red-tailed Hawk!! I have a 13 year old nephew who has mild Asperger’s Syndrome and I got him interested in eagles initially. What turned out to be a blessing is that his social worker is also a Falconer and has several Red-tailed Hawks. He has been so kind to introduce my nephew to falconry and Nick is absolutely hooked and definitely over the moon being able to work with these Red-tailed Hawks. If fact I’m jealous that I don’t have that opportunity – LOL!! I’m SO glad to see him being exposed to our wonderful wildlife!!!

        • Jo Ann I’m delighted that your nephew discovered a falconer and that he can experience these birds up close and personal. It’s nothing less than profound, and in the final analysis, they’re extraordinary teachers who can reach intellectual parts of the human psyche they didn’t know existed. They change you at a DNA/core level in ways you just cannot predict. Even after all these years, the only way I can describe it is it’s magic!
          And thank you kindly for your good words. They’re so greatly appreciated.

  2. Great capture as panning shots are not easy at all!
    How do you like the 7D Mark II? I have a 5D Mark II and am thinking about this one for birding, a hobby which I have recently picked up and am enjoying immensely.

    • I love it, Debbie, but there’s a caveat. This is my second Mark II – the first one had a focusing issue that I had a hard time getting fixed so I bought a second one. I’m still procrastinating on sending the first one in to Canon to get it repaired.

      IMO the Mark II is the overall ideal camera for birds.

  3. It’s a sensational shot Ron!

    Charlotte

  4. Power, grace, style.
    How I would love to fly with the raptors.
    And how grateful I am to start my day with your images. Megathanks.

  5. Warm Greetings.
    I am really excited to find a wonderful and very informative blog. I am writing from a corner of India and a newbie in photography. I love nature and when I found IUCN red listed butterfly in Korea, it really opened up my eyes and thought of Photography seriously. And let me admit, what I couldn’t learn spending 25 years in school / in lab ( I always loved field work but…) I learn everyday something new just being the part of Nature.
    Well, I am seeking help, I have noticed that a handsome pair of white-bellied sea eagle roost on the top of very tall tree. I have taken their snaps in flight but never expected them to come so close to my home. They come there after sunset when its dark and leave early in the morning by 6.20am. I was curious what bird it is because of their unusual calls, so yesterday it was bit dry and not so raining heavily decided to walk there, its near river shore and to my surprise its Eagle. I want to take their snaps without disturbing them. I hate using flash, and they perch very high so no use of it, but there is a midway left under-construction building, so I can climb over there and can use pillars as a hide to take snaps. But its TOOOOOO dark. I am using Nikon D5200 with Sigma 70-300mm 4-5.6mm lens ( no tc) I used 4000 iso, image quality is not so good. Would you suggest what I can try? How about adjusting EV to +1.0?
    I am giving my flickr link where I have uploaded the image.
    https://www.flickr.com/photos/10626027@N04/?savedsettings=28849489193#photo28849489193

    Thank you so much. One thing is sure, whether I can capture this pair or not but they have certainly guided me to a Wonderful teacher like you. ( like your golden eagle lead you to the rare sandpiper).

    With warm regards.
    Suvarna

    9

    • Hi Suvarna. Welcome to my blog. And to bird photography.

      One of the problems with photography is that it requires light and sometimes that issue is insurmountable given the conditions we often face. Based on the glow from the eyes and your image techs it looks like you used flash for that image.

      You could try increasing your EV but that will reduce shutter speed. If you’re shooting from a tripod (or your lens is well stabilized in some other way) and take a bunch of shots (short bursts) you can increase your chances of getting at least one or two sharp shots of a perched bird that isn’t moving even at very low shutter speeds. But keep in mind – when shooting at very high ISO’s, especially with dark backgrounds, noise is likely to be a significant issue.

      You could also try increasing exposure a little during processing but maybe you’ve already done that.

      In situations like that it’s often the best we can do. Good luck.

    • I am so glad that you, too, have found this wonderful blog and such a generous, interesting, informative teacher! I hope you will continue with your beautiful photography…and find a way to capture low light wildlife, especially birds, without the potentiallly disturbing use of a flash…good luck and welcome aboard!

    • I had the pleasure of viewing your beautiful pictures…of fascinating, jewel-like insects, shots of flying birds with light coming through their wings, amazing cloud patterns, cute cat and dog buddies, gorgeous flowers (including hibiscus, which I love)…so many!!! Thanks for letting us see them, Patty

  6. The more I photograph birds (and try to learn from you and what you post) the more I appreciate the statements you made here.

  7. Oh WOW! (Insert string of superlatives here!) As you know, redtails have captured my heart (along with HHs and Kestrels–and raptors) and this image explains some of the why part of that. Seeing that image regularly (among so many others) is part of why falconry is so blasted addictive! That’s the kind of stuff that turns me into a two-year-old, jumping up and down, clapping my hands and shrieking “Do it AGAIN! Do it AGAIN!” The raw beauty is simply profound (in my world).
    I also love what (often) comes next–that slam into the Earth, sometimes so loud you just know she’s killed herself, but then, you see her with prey firmly in talons. Just amazing!
    I’m wondering, however, if you’re certain that’s an adult? Within the context of the huge variations in plumage and that this bird is on the dark side of the plumage spectrum, I see the typical juvenile banding in that tail. There’s also the issue that it’s not that unusual for a darker adult western redtail to have a banded tail, which puts me firmly in the conundrum that anything is possible. Then there’s the juvenile eye color with just a little bit of the darkening weighed against the variability of the timing for the color change, and oh well, I don’t know. 🙂 Mariah, for example, kept that baby beige/gray eye coloring well into her third year and didn’t fully change to the dark brown eye color into she was about eight years old! Just wondering. And in the final analysis, it really doesn’t matter. That bird is GORGEOUS (and yes, I’m easy with redtails…LOL).
    And again, THANK YOU!

    • You may be right that this is a juvenile, Laura. I should have been more careful about my claim that it was an adult. To me it looks like the tail might be a mix of adult and juvenile feathers but then I’m no expert, as I demonstrated on this post… And as you mention that eye is very light.

      • With western birds, it can be so hard to tell. But overall, there’s so much diversity. People often think redtails are near monolithic in their coloration, but they’re really on more of a bell curve from all white (albino) through leucistic, the greater part of the bell curve, then on to melanistic to nearly all dark. Just depends on how the DNA stacks up in each individual. GADS but I love redtails 🙂

    • Leave it to Laura to comment on what I thought as well (Hi Laura! Waving from Minnesota) Let’s just say, as a falconer going into the new season, with plans to trap a new bird, if I saw this one above, I would certainly be tossing the BC, or waving the pigeon in front of the bow net.

      • Hey Carolyn!! Waving back from New York, soon to be some other where a lot farther west where the birds and I will be a LOT happier!
        Yeah, I’d certainly throw the trap for this one, but without the 100% certainty that it’s a juvie. Chances are good (I’m at 94.783% certain it’s a juvie), but I’ve also seen adults with a tail that banded, too, especially western birds. Ah redtails! Making us crazy for decades 🙂

  8. When did you learn how to fly??? Obviously you were flying right beside this bird for you to be able to get such an incredible shot! The greater mystery is how the heck you were able to fly and hold the camera so steady! Were you gliding? I like the background, which to my eyes is a very subtle, softly mottled light blue and white….my imagination? Aging eyesight?

    • It’s not your imagination, Patty. The sky was actually a mix of clouds and blue sky but in this shot at this focal length the part of it I grabbed in the background was more white than blue.

  9. Beautiful shot – great detail! Like it even if it isn’t as dramatic as take off or landing. 🙂

  10. Even with a plain background, an image can’t be boring (at least for me), when there is such great detail of the feather patterns. This is a view of a Red-tail that I don’t get to see in real life, because they are always too far away. I like this one a lot.

  11. Hi Ron,

    Definitely one of my favorite subjects to photograph. Its not often you can get close enough to get the frame sufficiently filled to maintain the feather detail of the bird, at least the level of detail I like to see. This is assuming of coarse you get a sensor on the bird long enough to focus. And you are shooting at the equivalent of 1120 mm hand held. Impressive! You got this one. Great work.

    Frank

  12. Ron: Sharp! For panning, sharp. For panning, even this size in the frame, no clipping. Exposure perfect. Good eye, with a glint. What more could a photographer request? A cloud. The challenge is fun.

  13. Ron, thanks for the image and for the explanation Diana

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