Possibly the most challenging bird behavior I’ve ever attempted to photograph.
Eight days ago, while I was driving slowly down a dirt road in northern Utah, two male Northern Harriers began their spectacular “Sky Dance” to the left of my pickup and close to me. As they continued their dance they crossed the road in front of me and danced some more on the other side.
Almost miraculously I was able to maneuver my pickup into a position that allowed me to get my lens on one of them for a split second as he was diving straight down in what seemed to me like a death dive – he was that close to the ground and traveling that fast.
1/5000, f/6.3, ISO 800, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in
I got two consecutive shots with him fully in the frame but this is the only one that was sharp. His eye looks a little funky because his pupil is at the top of his eye – probably because he was looking, or trying to look, at the other harrier out of frame to the left.
Male harriers Sky Dance for two reasons, to advertise their occupancy of territory and to court females. These two males could have been competing for territory or courting a female that I didn’t see.
Over the years I’ve tried to photograph harriers Sky Dancing many times but because dancing consists of such speedy and acrobatic maneuvers, this photo is the best one I’ve ever managed to get. I’d describe Sky Dancing as a long and highly erratic series of loop de loops and corkscrew twists performed at high speed. Cornell’s Birds of the World describes Sky Dancing as follows:
“Each aerial display comprises a sequence of as many as 74 deep, “U”-shaped undulations covering a distance of up to 1 km at a height of 10–300 m; most bouts about 25 “U”s at 20 m above ground.”
However you describe it, and however well you photograph it, Sky Dancing is an incredible behavior to witness. The Latin name of Northern Harriers is Circus hudsonius, which makes me wonder if Sky Dancing was the reason “circus” was chosen as their genus name.
Ron
Note: Because it’s so difficult to keep dancing harriers in the frame, even with video where the subject is usually much smaller in the frame, I had a hard time finding a video clip I could link to that would adequately document how incredibly acrobatic Sky Dancing actually is.
But this one isn’t bad.
What I would have given to be there, to witness that, whether I got a photo or not !. And that alone is saying a whole heck of a lot. Wow!
Took. My. Breath. Away.
One of the most awesome photographs I have ever seen, Ron.
Reminds me of the courtship flight of the Nighthawks.
Amazing Shot! Do you think you would of been able to get this shot with the 7D Mark II, or do you think the R5 made the critical difference?
The R5 made the difference. With my old camera this shot was possible but highly unlikely.
Thank you for the info. Every bit helps in making this rather expensive decision.
Wowzers! Yay for the R5, the man behind it, and the bird in front of it. What a spectacular shot, Ron. Thank you for the video clip as well. It must be something to see the Sky Dance in real life.
It really IS something, Marty. Each time I see it is very special.
Ron, have you seen this one?
Sallie, yes I’ve seen it but I didn’t include it because it wasn’t about Sky Dancing. I’ve seen this food-passing behavior quite a few times over the years but I’ve never been able to photograph it even moderately well. Doing so is another one of my goals.
What an amazing sight – to see and to capture. I love your shot, and the video took my breath away.
Thank you, EC.
There are plenty of Harriers in marshy Wisconsin but I have never seen this display. Maybe I need to look up a bit more while birding in the spring.
Yup, maybe… :_
An amazing shot Ron! And thanks for describing this Harrier behavior that I was completely unaware of. Seeing this in person definitely goes on my bucket list.
Dick, I hope you get to see it one day. You won’t forget it.
Come On, that has to be a ton of fun for the Harrier and you did a fantastic job capturing it!!!!
Sorry, but if your life is mostly in the air, whatever can be done to make it fun has got to be amazing to us humans!!
Dick, for the harriers I suspect it was both fun and very serious business.
Wow !!!!! I can just imagine trying to get decent shots as he drops toward the ground at such high speeds. I did watch the video and that does give you a very good understanding of the Sky Dance. As I have mentioned before, I have never seen the Grey Ghost. We currently have two females, one long time resident, and one fairly new, but never a male. They leave here for the summer and head north where they most likely do mate. From Prescott going north to find a mate they very well could end up in your territory.
Everett, if you ever get to northern Utah I can almost guarantee that you’d see Gray Ghosts.
I was unaware of this behavior. Thanks for both the photo and the link to the video. As usual,checking your blog daily pays off.
Good to know, Nancy. Thank you.
Amazing. This image is really amazing. You can almost hear the wind whistle as he streaks downward! And thank you for the video. The upside down bits were incredible!
I agree about the “upside down bits”, Arwen. And sometimes they’re in the midst of corkscrewing while they’re upside down. It really is incredible.
I’ve only seen a gray ghost a couple of times. Never two at once and certainly never sky dancing. I suspect your truck is a bird magnet. Nothing else I can think of explains it😀
Lyle, we seem to have more adult males around here than most folks have in other areas. I can’t explain why.
What a treat to see ! Thanks for also including the video clip od the sky dance,
and I also enjoyed the video queued up after it of a Harrier pair sky dancing
and handing off–while airborne ! a feed for their brood on the ground…..it’s at
times like this that I’m glad for having the internet within my lifetime…..
Interesting point about the internet, Kris. We have to take the bad with the good but what would we do without it…
WOW! I wouldn’t even attempt it! VBG! 🙂 I’ve seen Eagles a couple of times but never Harriers……
Judy, if I was still using my old camera I might not have attempted it either.
Nah – of course I would have. I would have tried but I’d have surely failed.
I’ve seen hummingbirds in my yard do their U-shaped mating dance—I didn’t know harriers did one too! Of course, mostly I can’t see the hummingbird, just get an impression of him flying back and forth, making his humming sound with his wings.
Several disparate species do something similar, Mary.
WOW!
What a shot! Thanks for the video clip. Love watching hawks and falcons when they wing-over. Such a spectacular and aerodynamically elegant maneuver.
Thank you, Michael.
What a wonderful experience — and how wonderful that you have a camera capable of capturing it for us.
Speaking of cameras, I have a related question. I tried and failed last night to find the post where you talked about cold weather and blurry images, and the effect of the cold on your lenses. Could you point me to that? I’d like to pass on the link to another photographer who might find it useful.
Shoreacres, I did several but this is one of them – in the Note To Photographers at the bottom of the post.
https://www.featheredphotography.com/blog/2022/01/11/adult-male-common-goldeneye-aka-mr-fathead/
Many thanks!
Great capture! I have never witnessed that behavior, though my sightings of harriers have almost always been during the winter. I kept hoping to catch the dive of a Short-tailed Hawk as it dropped unexpectedly to pursue a bird. My reward was either an empty frame or a blurry dot..
“My reward was either an empty frame or a blurry dot..”
Kenneth, those words perfectly describe the typical results of trying to photograph this behavior, at least in my experience.
This time I got lucky, in part because of the AF capabilities of my new camera.