Red-backed Hawks

Gallery: AvianPosted March 15, 2011327 views19 comments

Here's another image from our scouting trip to Southwest Ecuador last month. This is an unusual shot in that it is pair that includes both a dark morph female (taking off) and a light morph male. The dark morph is very uncommon and I was pleased to get a pair together like this. This bird is called Variable Hawk in the Birds of Ecuador as it has/was been lumped with the highland Puna Hawk. This shot was taken at the Chocolatera, the western most point in Ecuador and one of the furthest west in South America. The background is the Pacific Ocean The area is part of a military base and was only recently opened to the public.

I used a fairly high F-stop of F10 to try and make sure I got both birds in focus, this is cropped to about 65% of the original.

MkIV 500F4 1.4x 1/1000 F10, iso 500, evaluative metering +0.3, handheld

Comments

19 comments

Comment posted by Max Waugh on March 15, 2011 at 5:08 PM

A great view of an unusual species with the varying plumage. Nice job getting them together, Nate.

Max

Registered on September 26, 2008, 428 Posts, 2329 Comments

Comment posted by Philip Hodgkins on March 15, 2011 at 5:11 PM

Straightforward and well done, Nate. A nice mix of stop action and static pose, with excellent DOF. You make it look so easy!

Registered on July 24, 2006, 2741 Posts, 12349 Comments

Comment posted by Rick Cloran on March 15, 2011 at 7:33 PM

Gret capture. I can't say I've ever seen one before and you managed to get both sexes and both phases! Sweet indeed.

Registered on April 6, 2004, 119 Posts, 1989 Comments

Comment posted by Luke Ormand on March 15, 2011 at 8:01 PM

So cool to get a species like this with variable plumage. And the flight and pose are perfect. I'd spend the time to crop out the twig bisecting the perched hawk though.

Registered on February 4, 2009, 1093 Posts, 7035 Comments

Comment posted by KC Choo on March 15, 2011 at 9:26 PM

You certainly got them in focus - neat to get the two together, Nate!

Registered on November 15, 2004, 519 Posts, 8278 Comments

Comment posted by Charles Gangas on March 15, 2011 at 9:49 PM

Nate, congrats on finding this very unusual couple. The techs, as always are superb.

Registered on August 12, 2009, 544 Posts, 2414 Comments

Comment posted by richard remington on March 15, 2011 at 10:10 PM

Nate,

That is a magnificent capture. Great focus on both birds and you wer able to freeze the wing beat on the flying hawk. Outstanding!

Rick

Registered on March 12, 2010, 105 Posts, 368 Comments

Comment posted by Cheryl Molennor on March 15, 2011 at 10:17 PM

Wow lucky you and it's a great comp as well. I'm amazed you guys can handhold those big 500s so well

Registered on June 30, 2009, 300 Posts, 5051 Comments

Comment posted by Sally King on March 15, 2011 at 10:18 PM

Love the bird thats taking off with those feet sticking out and the look the second one is giving it. The background shows them off nicely.

Registered on December 2, 2008, 416 Posts, 4450 Comments

Comment posted by Nancy Lea Sandy on March 15, 2011 at 11:37 PM

Nicely done, Nate.

Registered on January 24, 2011, 576 Posts, 6942 Comments

Comment posted by Ken Archer on March 16, 2011 at 4:01 AM

Awesome Catch Nate

A sweet portrait and action of a rare pair.

Ken Archer

Registered on October 28, 2004, 222 Posts, 6683 Comments

Comment posted by Rob Drummond on March 16, 2011 at 5:58 AM

Great job getting them both in focus Nate - the image would have lost a lot of its impact if one was soft.

cheers
Rob

Registered on November 8, 2003, 617 Posts, 8267 Comments

Comment posted by Matt Shellenberg on March 16, 2011 at 5:17 PM

Great job getting them both in focus, Nate. Really nice that you captured both genders and two different morphs. Great image.

Registered on February 6, 2008, 168 Posts, 3118 Comments

Comment posted by Luca Mussato on March 17, 2011 at 5:06 PM

Surely a great capture, especially to get two in one but it appears a little too pale on my monitor, as if it lacks of saturation. Could be my taste and/or my monitor, of course.

Luca

Registered on November 14, 2006, 118 Posts, 855 Comments

Comment posted by May Haga on March 17, 2011 at 5:15 PM

Excellent job of getting both birds in focus. Congratulations on getting a rarity.
May

Registered on February 22, 2007, 714 Posts, 8470 Comments

Comment posted by Jim Hackley on March 17, 2011 at 5:41 PM

Excellent detail on the larger image Nate and good job to get both in focus. The dark morph female kind of reminds me of a Harris Hawk. The larger image looks great, way to go, well done.

Registered on September 17, 2009, 302 Posts, 5535 Comments

Comment posted by Bryan Hix on March 17, 2011 at 11:08 PM

Very cool raptors. Might add a smidge more contrast with curves like you did for the BH Woodpecker photo.

Registered on June 13, 2008, 117 Posts, 755 Comments

Comment posted by Robbie Knight on May 7, 2011 at 12:31 AM

Great capture and action. I like the red on her back, white on her tail feathers (except the tips) and his grey plumage. How do you know the other bird is not just in juvenile plumage? Great color and background and story – thanks for sharing. RK

Registered on April 10, 2010, 30 Posts, 135 Comments

Comment posted by Nate Chappell on May 7, 2011 at 12:59 AM

Thanks Robbie, the juveniles are just a mottled brown color not sharply marked like these. The light and dark morphs are shown in the field guide as well.

Registered on February 1, 2006, 1158 Posts, 19528 Comments