![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/ferruginous-hawk-0168c-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"ferruginous-hawk-0168c-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/p>\nNorth America’s largest and most impressive buteo.<\/p>\n
This is a photo from my archives that I published on my blog back on September 2, 2011. I’m posting it again because few current readers have seen it and because I rarely have a chance at Ferruginous Hawks in flight so the image means a lot to me.<\/p>\n
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1\/4000, f\/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n The hawk had just taken off from a wooden post but it gained elevation quickly so the perch is out of frame in the photo. It took off toward me and began to bank almost immediately which gave me a corner to corner composition that I like very much. A turn of the head provided a good look at the face and a catch light in the eye and one of those well-lit feet has blood on a toe. I also like the somewhat mottled and streaky background rather than just homogenous sky.<\/p>\n And man, just look at that barrel chest! Ferruginous hawks are the largest, most powerful and grandest of all North American buteos and that massive, muscular chest is one of the reasons why. These 3.5 lb. hawks regularly prey on jackrabbits that can approach 10 lbs and kick like the devil with their long and powerful hind legs when attacked so there’s good reason for all their muscle mass.<\/p>\n I used to see many more Ferruginous Hawks in my area than I do now. Significant declines in their populations in both Canada and the U. S. have been documented and that’s one of the many reasons I’m an enthusiastic supporter of HawkWatch International. HWI’s Great Basin Raptor Nest Surveys<\/a> document and study nesting raptors, including Ferruginous Hawks, throughout northwest Utah and northeast Nevada.<\/p>\n We have to be knowledgeable about them to protect them.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Addendum: Blog followers who are also bird photographers will likely note that eight years ago I was already using unusually fast shutter speeds. In the past I’ve mentioned several reasons for doing so but here’s another one I don’t believe I’ve brought up in this context before. I have essential tremors in my hands which makes them shake when I get nervous or excited and my tendency for “buck fever” when I have a chance at a potentially spectacular image can ruin an otherwise great photo. <\/em><\/p>\n