23rd Annual Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest Wildlife
Big redtail hawk

This is a redtail hawk the reason I am picking this photo is because I never expected to be so close to a hawk at least a few inches away from me. This is a juvenile redtail so he was hunting a squirrel and didn’t know how to eat it. He only knew how to kill it. It was really amazing that he let me get close enough to him to snap a lot of photos.

Photo Detail
Date Taken: 10.2025
Date Uploaded: 11.2025
Photo Location: The Bronx, New York, United States of America
Camera: iPhone 15
Copyright: © David Hernandez/Morales