Tag Archives: red tailed hawk

Birding Trips and Tours North Carolina, Birdwatching News, Field Notes, Out There with the Expert, The Adventures of your bird watching Admin

A Red tailed Hawk encounter at Mid Pines rd. Raleigh NC

Another interesting raptor I encountered at Mid Pines Rd. earlier this week was a gorgeous Red Tailed Hawk.
I couldn’t believe how relaxed and calm this large bird was. In fact, the only time it ruffled its feathers was when a truck drove by it.
I thought for sure it would fly off with the approach of the vehicle, yet it simply flapped it’s wings to balance itself on the post against the wind created by the passing truck.



Though I captured these portraits with a zoom lens from a good distance away, standing alone in a wide open field under the watchful gaze of this bird felt different than when I’m photographing songbirds in the trees.
It’s almost like it knew I wasn’t a threat.
Still, I was glad not to be a mouse in those brief moments haha!

These hawks are an impressive sight up close. They are large birds with beautiful plumage that varies from light to dark morphs within this species wide regional range.
Here in N.C. adults have dark brown eyes and that familiar reddish rust colored tail. The younger birds have light colored eyes and will molt out their brown banded tail for reddish feathers after one year.



A familiar sight to many living in the Western Hemisphere, the breeding range of the Red tailed Hawk extends from central Alaska through Canada, across the entire United States, south through Mexico and all the way down into Central America.
It’s neat to know that you can find one of these gorgeous birds perched calmly on a field post, surveying it’s wide domain just about anywhere in this part of the world 🙂

Photos by @sally_siko of @birdwatching_nc on the fabulous full frame SLR, the @canonusa
#5Ds

Field Notes, The Adventures of your bird watching Admin

A Red tailed Hawk encounter at the North Carolina Museum of Art

It’s quite a remarkable feeling to see eye to eye with a Red-tailed Hawk.
I found this big guy perched on a lamppost at the North Carolina Museum of Art a few days ago. He watched me but remained completely calm as I crept in a little nearer for a shot.



The thing with birds is this, you’ve got to move slowly. Sudden moves increase tension and can stimulate the flight response in raptors. There is not a single detail that’s missed by the keen eyes of a Red tail, thus forethought and fluidity of movement is key when trying to get a good portrait of one at *relatively close range.



These large hawks are a common sight across the United States with a range stretching from coast to coast. There are 16 different subspecies of Red tails with varying degrees of differences in the colors of their plumage. Some are dressed nearly in all black, others are noticeably paler than the rest.
All are freak’n gorgeous IMO 😉

Photo by @sally_siko of @birdwatching_nc on the fabulous full frame SLR, the @canonusa
#5Ds

Birding Trips and Tours North Carolina, Field Notes, The Adventures of your bird watching Admin

A Red tailed Hawk encounter at Mid Pines rd. Raleigh

While birding at the Mid Pines Rd. dog leg last week, I was lucky enough to get a nice close up look at a gorgeous Red-tailed Hawk.
I’d spotted it soaring in the sky and was thrilled when it swooped down and landed on a power pole just a few yards away.
It sat there for several minutes scanning the fields below before taking off again to a tree at the edge of the wood line.

  • Red tailed Hawk



Red-tailed hawks are a common sight in this area of central N.C., and in fact one of the most common hawk species found in the world.
As was the case here at Mid Pines Rd., they are usually seen soaring high over open fields or perched somewhere with a good view, like a telephone pole or fence post.

Red tailed Hawk


Red-tailed Hawks have even moved into cities where they have an unending supply of pigeons and sparrows to hunt and high building ledges to nest on.
Photos by @sally_siko of @birdwatching_nc on the mighty @canonusa #5ds

Field Notes, The Adventures of your bird watching Admin

A red tailed Hawk at Jordan Lake Park

Was stoked to grab a quick pic or two of this Red-tailed Hawk at the Jordan Lake State Recreation area last week!

Red-tailed Hawk


Usually, you can see these birds engaging in one of two activities: They are either soaring above the fields, giving the occasional territorial “kree – ee – ah!” Or like this lovely bird, they’re found perching high up in a tree, keeping a keen eye out for the movement of a darting rodents on the ground below.
Red-tails will defend their territory for hunting and breeding, and will chase away any other birds of prey who dare fly in on their home turf.
I only had a few seconds to take photos of this one before it spotted a rival and took off to investigate the intruder.
What a cool looking bird!

Photos & video by @sally_siko of @birdwatching_nc
Canon 5Ds

All photos and video were captured with my mighty Canon 5DS. If you are interested in getting shots like these with this 50 MP beast of a camera, please check out the link below to Canon USA.

Birdwatching NC is sponsored by Canon USA and I am proud to be a Canon shooter. After 13 years of trusting my professional photography business to Canon’s line of products, I cannot recommend this company strongly enough. If you have have any questions about my gear, shoot me a message!

Field Notes, The Adventures of your bird watching Admin

Red Tail hawk on the run

Went out for a quick hike this morning at Yates Mill Park in Raleigh and found a Swallow chasing a Red Tail hawk.

The Swallow was relentless in his pursuit. Diving and twirling in the sky, taunting the hawk to try something, lol!

Finally the hawk made it to the tree line where he disappeared into the pines. It was pretty cool to see such a small bird defend his territory against a much larger foe.