As I topped the first hill along The Lost Road, I gasped at the sight of a bright white hawk perched on the low side of the next hill. It was a stunning Krider’s Red-tailed Hawk with piercing white eyes and mostly white coloration! This regal hawk showed a completely white underside from the top of its head to the middle of its tail. The plumage on its back and wings was beautifully pattered with white highlights emphasized against a brown base color. Its tail was white on the underside and half-beige on the dorsal side. The lower half of its tail feathers were colored tan, and the long feathers were broken by regularly spaced black horizontal stripes. This impressive hawk’s bright new plumage indicated it was a young bird that just fledged a month or so before, yet it looked as large as any adult.
With white eyes peering in my direction, I gingerly positioned my camera and began photographing it with prairie grasses blowing in the wind behind it. The beautiful hawk was not alarmed and appeared intent on hunting from its perch, providing me with ample opportunity take portrait photographs of it. When it did leave its perch, the white hawk advanced on a smooth, low glide and dropped down into the grass as if in pursuit of prey, rising up again 30 seconds later to ply the sky on the wing.
The impressive white hawk provided some long-range flight photos as it swept across the clear sky, changing direction and tantalizing me by coming kinda close, but I wished for a closer approach. After the hawk passed behind me, I tried to reposition to get back within the best sunlight range, but it stayed beyond the reach of my zoom lens and flew out of sight. I took a little time to review some of the photos on the mini-screen on the back of my camera, then began a slow drive forward down the very remote road again. I was thrilled with the Krider’s sighting and photo ops, but as often times happens with bird photography, I wished for more.
Watching out across the expansive native prairie landscape that once attracted historic herds of American Bison, as I topped the second hill I was taken aback by the sight of an identical-looking Krider’s Red-tail perched before me! A twin? Or did the young hawk circle ahead of me? This time the hawk was perched on a hilltop post that provided a blue sky background and the hawk was positioned with more of its white plumage showing – providing just a few exceptional photo ops before taking flight again. This time its circling flight provided a few closer flight photos in beautiful late afternoon sunlight, but it didn’t provide a good image of its white underside as it circled and flew.
I hoped this impressive raptor would continue to hunt along the Lost Road, so I checked back later that evening, the next day, and other afternoons without seeing the beautiful Krider’s Red-tailed Hawk again. But even seeing it the second time was a special chance, and it apparently resumed its late summer movements, just as so many other Red-tails are on the move toward peak migration time across the region (across the continent). The variety of plumages this species shows provides birders with a reason to check on every large raptor and try to find interesting examples of Red-tails to photograph, including adults and young birds. Enjoy this migration season with such an exciting variety of birds making their way south daily, and good luck with your camera and lens!
Article and Photographs by Paul Konrad
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