On Tax Day, complaints rained out in our neighborhood when the Crow Posse noticed a Red-tailed Hawk had entered without permission. The Crows immediately flew over and began dive-bombing the hawk. They do this whenever they see a large, trespassing bird, such as a Bald Eagle, Osprey, Raven or Red-tail. Red-tails in the Northwest primarily eat squirrels, other small mammals and rabbits, which we have in abundance. However, when those aren’t available, they might eat birds, including small passerines, and Crows judge them guilty. Strangely, Cooper’s Hawks, who emphasize birds in their diet, get a pass from the Crows.
Here are two sequences of photos I was able to shoot from our yard:
Crows’ mobbing calls alerted me to the presence of this Red-tail, who tries to appear unobtrusive. It didn’t fool the Crow Posse on duty.
Similar view, closer.
After a few passes, the hawk left, and Mr. WordsandBirds and I went out birding. When we returned, around 6, I heard loud complaints from a Steller’s Jay and investigated. The jays have a nest with young nestlings in our yard, so the jay’s screams were a concern.
This brave Steller’s Jay was alone, dive-bombing the Red-tail, who’d moved across the street during our absence.
Soon the larger corvid contingent joined the attack.
“It’s getting too crowded and noisy here.”
“Maybe if I just sit still . . .
“. . . or look as fierce as I can be . . .
“. . . or cry out . . .
“… or scream.” The hawk’s cry of irritation sounded just like an Eastern Gray Squirrel. I’d never heard that sound come from a Red-tail before.
Nothing worked, and the hawk moved quarters.
It flew off to a more hospitable area for awhile, but it didn’t give up. I saw it here again yesterday and today. The Steller’s Jay and the Crows saw it too.
This Red-tail really wants to stake a claim here, where tall perches are abundant and Eastern Gray Squirrels and Eastern Cottontails, both non-native and invasive here, are plentiful. I wish it good luck.
🐦⬛ 🐦⬛🐦⬛
For anyone who hasn’t seen it, Clickadee pointed out an excellent article by Scott Weidensaul in Living Bird Magazine about The Red-tailed Hawk Project, a Ph.D.-led effort that is turning out the latest research on the sixteen Red-tail subspecies in the Americas and the hawks’ many, beguiling morphs. It’s well worth reading. www.allaboutbirds.org/…
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The Daily Bucket is a nature refuge. We amicably discuss animals, weather, climate, soil, plants, waters and note life’s patterns spinning around us. And birds!
We invite you to note what you are seeing around you in your own part of the world, and to share your observations in the comments below.
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I hope you enjoyed this Friday Sequence. Today’s Bucket will be a no-host bar. I’ll try to drop in now and then, but I’ll be gone a lot, so please just carry on. Honk if you like Red-tails!
