Juvenile Red-Tailed Hawk Double-take

An image I have posted before of which I thought deserved an encore. A solitary Red-Tail (Juvenile) Hawk sits atop a tree branch surveying his domain in search of his next meal. 

This shot was take at the Hagerman Wildlife Refuge in North Texas, USA on February 16, 2013.

Equipment – Nikon D300 Camera with 150-500mm Adj Sigma Lens
Weather: Bright Sunshine

Copyright 2013 - Nature's Realm Wildlife Photography - Dennis Stewart

• Size & Shape

  Red-tailed Hawks are large hawks with typical Buteo proportions: very broad, rounded wings and a short, wide tail. Large females seen from a distance might fool you into thinking you’re seeing an eagle. (Until an actual eagle comes along.)
  

• Color Pattern

  Most Red-tailed Hawks are rich brown above and pale below, with a streaked belly and, on the wing underside, a dark bar between shoulder and wrist. The tail is usually pale below and cinnamon-red above, though in young birds it’s brown and banded. “Dark-morph” birds are all chocolate-brown with a warm red tail. “Rufous-morph” birds are reddish-brown on the chest with a dark belly.
  

• Behavior

  You’ll most likely see Red-tailed Hawks soaring in wide circles high over a field. When flapping, their wing-beats are heavy. In high winds they may face into the wind and hover without flapping, eyes fixed on the ground. They attack in a slow, controlled dive with legs outstretched – much different from a falcon’s stoop.
  

• Habitat

  The Red-tailed Hawk is a bird of open country. Look for it along fields and perched on telephones poles, fencepost, or trees standing alone or along edges of fields.

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