Watch a Photogenic Wolf Photobomb a Beautiful Hawk

Some nature videos can be brutal, leaving your gasping mouth agape. Others fill you with a sense of serene awe, easing tension and inviting peace. This is the latter. You get nearly a full minute of incredible drone footage just before the star of the show, a red-tailed hawk, opens its wings and flies off.

Watch This Stunning Video Now!

Are Red-Tailed Hawks Rare?

At one point, red-tailed hawk populations plummeted because humans shot them. They saw them as varmints in the earlier part of the 20^th century. However, laws were changed to end the senseless killing of these majestic hawks. Today, their populations are thriving and there is low concern about conserving their populations. In fact, they’re the hawk you can most commonly spot in North America.

These hawks nest in trees, live in forests, and soar above open fields. They hunt and eat small animals, often stopping at a high point like at the point of a tree or even a telephone pole to keep their eyes focused on the ground below them. This vantage point allows them to catch even the most minute movements and move in with speed and stealth.

Where Do Coy Wolves Live?

Coywolves are a hybrid of both wolves and coyotes and inhabit the eastern parts of North America from Virginia up to Canada. These wild canines inhabit forest environments, the same as red-tailed hawks. They may even make their ways into cities and parks strewn throughout neighborhoods. This hybrid came about when hunting and deforestation nearly decimated wolf populations in the area and coyotes and wolves started to interbreed.

An Epic Photobomb

Drones have provided photographers with the ability to capture otherwise impossible moments, giving viewers a chance to experience wildlife in a completely new way. When the video below starts, you get to appreciate a gorgeous red-tailed hawk with its pale belly in full display. The camera focuses on it and takes a 360 degree turn all around it. At one point, it has its back to the camera and its head turned looking into the lens, as if acknowledging the odd robotic bird there to capture its essence. It has a distinctive rich brown color with pale bits on the back and a cinnamon-red tail.

While you’re appreciating the beautiful bird of prey, a coywolf can be seen far beneath it, on the ground, looking at its surroundings. Either the drone or hawk (or both) capture its attention, and it looks up. For a moment, it’s as if the hawk and the coywolf are communicating via eye contact. You realize the hawk needs very little space on a branch to perch, as its landed on the highest point of a dry tree to survey the open field. The video is only 55 seconds long, but it’s enough to gift you with a sense of calm and wonder.

The photo featured at the top of this post is © muratart/Shutterstock.com