Ferruginous Hawk On A Rustic Perch
Ferruginous Hawks are very impressive birds when you get this close to them. They are massive broad-winged hawks with a wide gape, large head and burly chest. They are our largest buteo and share many characteristics with the Golden Eagle. Last week in Montana I came across this bird on what is apparently a favorite perch – a rustic entrance gate to an irrigated farm in a small, beautiful and lush valley in Beaverhead County. I say “favorite perch” because I found this same bird (apparently) on the same gate, and in the same position, last month. 1/2500, f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4 These hawks are “sit and wait” hunters, which is exactly what this bird was doing. Their preferred prey is ground squirrels and prairie dogs and based on the number of badger holes in the valley I’d guess that there’s plenty of ground squirrels available. This is another version of the same image, cropped differently and more closely to better show the group of gnats (no-see-ums) swarming around the head of the hawk (to the left, I cloned them out in the first image). In some ways the biologist in me actually prefers the second version. 1/2000, f/8, ISO 500, 500 f/4 When it took off it was facing away and I clipped a wing-tip but I decided to include this image anyway to show the bird up close and in flight. Ron