Maybe it was the wind that had ruffled its feathers. Maybe it was the guy shoving a camera in its face. Either way, this beautiful raptor didn’t seem too thrilled on this blustery morning last weekend. 😉
Ferruginous hawks are beautiful birds and the dark morphs are really extraordinary. That bright yellow part of its mouth pops when compared to the chocolate brown of the rest of its body.
They are not near as common as the regular morph ferruginous hawks and, in my experience, tend to be a lot more skittish. It has been a couple years since I found one willing to sit and pose like this one did.