Visitors 324
Modified 3-Jul-20
Created 30-Jun-20
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Three raptors -- each masters of their own environment -- meet in the empty skies, and fight. The Red-tailed Hawk, who soars effortlessly in the broad sky, circling lazily on the thermals; who watches from a high perch, waiting for an animal to snatch with its strong talons. The White-tailed Kite*, spending time suspended stationary in the air above the field, wings beating, head and tail motionless, waiting for an unsuspecting vole to scurry out of hiding. The bold Cooper's Hawk**, attacking birds and small mammals in the forest, emerging suddenly, swooping from behind an obstruction to surprise its prey --but also capable of soaring high, as we see here.
What brought the two smaller raptors so high, to challenge the larger hawk on its own turf? Why did they want to drive it away? Though smaller, they here prove more agile, and braver. Two raptors, a hawk and a kite, attack a larger hawk at the same time.
Finally, the larger Red-tailed Hawk flies out of danger, and is free to once again circle in the sky, unchallenged.
I watch this drama for over four minutes -- from when I notice each of these three raptors rise, one by one, from the forest near Coal Mine Ridge, between my standpoint and Windy Hill -- to the time the Red-tail flies free, with neither of the other birds to be seen. Four minutes -- it seems like a long time. [I am in awe of Darnella Frazier, who bore witness for over eight minutes, close to the action, in some danger herself. Another story...]
* The White-tailed Kite (Elanus leucurus) was formerly known as the Black-shouldered Kite. Same bird, now defined as a separate New World species. The other "kite", made from paper and light wood, straining in the wind, held fast in the same location -- it was given its English name after a bird, a close relative of our kite, which also displayed this kiting behavior, staying motionless in the sky, flapping. [And the circle continues. I just found out from Wikipedia that the genus name, Elanus, is from ancient Greek for, you guessed it, "kite". The paper and string kind.]
** The smaller hawk is a Cooper's Hawk (Accipiter cooperii) -- not a Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus) as I originally said. The Cooper's Hawk is in the genus Accipiter -- displaying true hawk-like behavior, darting through the forest after birds and other prey, an "attacker" rather than a "searcher". Compared to their body size, they take larger prey than many other raptors. Brave, a little foolhardy perhaps, they often break bones, crashing into branches or wires. ("Dashing through vegetation to catch birds is a dangerous lifestyle. In a study of more than 300 Cooper’s Hawk skeletons, 23 percent showed old, healed-over fractures in the bones of the chest, especially of the furcula, or wishbone." Cornell Labs AllAboutBirds.org 2020) Falconers favor Cooper's hawks.
Several people helped correct my original ID. In order:
1. Pierre Martineau: "I was wondering, is it possible that the smaller hawk aggressor be a Cooper's hawk? I say this because photos 12 and 14 show much white on the lower flanks and suggest a head "cap"; also, the bird's much smaller size and its aggressiveness in "pursuing" the red tailed hawk makes me think of a Cooper's hawk. Did it call at any point?"
2. Peter Hart: "I wouldn’t call myself an expert, but the smaller hawk does look more like a Cooper’s Hawk to me.
"Red-tailed Hawks seem to get mobbed by everything else, possibly because they’re big enough to take the recently-fledged birds of those other species."
3, The final nail in the coffin, Richard Jeffers: "Yes, nice sequence of photos, and the other bird is an adult Cooper's Hawk. It has the silhouette of an Accipiter (longer, narrower wings than a Buteo), and the long, rounded tail is good for Cooper's. The head also projects beyond the leading edge of the wing. The other contender is Sharp-shinned Hawk, but they tend to be gone from our area in the summer (some stay higher up in the Santa Cruz mountains), but the images look pretty classic for Cooper's. And having the White-tailed Kite for size comparison also helps, as even larger, female Sharpies wouldn't approach the size of the kite."
Enjoy the fireworks.