![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/rough-legged-hawk-9710-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"rough-legged-hawk-9710-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/p>\nThe more I study this photo the more I get out of it. I’ve tried to interpret what I’m seeing as accurately as I can but I may or may not have it right.<\/p>\n
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1\/800, f\/10, ISO 400, Canon 40D, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS\u00a0USM, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n It’s an older image that I never posted before because there’s no catch light in the eye and then I just forgot about it until last night when I stumbled across it again. But in a behavioral shot like this one\u00a0I now\u00a0believe a catch light isn’t essential, especially since we can see the light-colored right\u00a0eye of the juvenile.<\/p>\n And I’ve always loved this\u00a0pose because it’s unique\u00a0but I’d never studied\u00a0the image\u00a0before to figure out what’s actually going on. Obviously it’s preening one of\u00a0the flight feathers on its left wing. Hawks have ten primaries on each wing\u00a0and this bird appears to have P-1, the inner primary,\u00a0in its beak (I believe P-2 and P-3 are\u00a0mostly\u00a0hidden behind the other primaries). We can count at least seven of the other nine primaries by noticing their light-colored\u00a0terminal edges. P-1 has been bent upwards as the bird pulls its entire length through its beak in order to re-zip the hooks between the barbules and clean off any debris that may be present.<\/p>\n But there’s something else that caught my eye – that group of white feathers\u00a0just to\u00a0the left of\u00a0the bottom of P-1. Roughie secondary feathers are dark dorsally and mostly white ventrally so those feathers must be the ventral surface of\u00a0some of the secondaries turned ‘upside-down’ by the action of the hawk pulling on P-1. That’s something you don’t see every day and it demonstrates just how flexible feathers really are.<\/p>\n At least it appears<\/em> to me like that’s what’s going on but I’m far from an authority on raptor plumage so if I’ve misinterpreted anything here I hope falconers or other folks\u00a0‘in the know’ will set the record straight. I’ll admit to being slightly confused by at least one hopefully inconsequential detail so I’d appreciate confirmation or correction.\u00a0I’m not here as a know-it all, I’m here to learn too.<\/p>\n I realize not everyone’s\u00a0as enamored\u00a0by avian minutia like this as I am so if I’ve bored you to tears I apologize. If nothing else I hope you can enjoy this beautiful raptor in an unusual pose.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The more I study this photo the more I get out of it. I’ve tried to interpret what I’m seeing as accurately as I can but I may or may not have it right.<\/p>\n