My experience has been that a smaller bird will attack the bird of prey relentlessly till they're on their way.
Tru dat. Small birds are more maneuverable. If it's pure bird-on-bird aerial combat, the bird with less mass will pretty much always have the advantage; they can get behind the big bird and just peck it from above until they feel like stopping. It's a very rare inversion of the usual rules of Nature Fight.
I was watching some crows chase around an eagle the other day. The pathetic squee noises it made like it’s saying “I toldja I was sorry I ate your babies” has me wondering why we have all fallen for this whole eagles are a symbol of power gobbledegook.
3 crows that hang out near my house and join my chickens and ducks when I toss scratch and treats out have made it their mission to keep said birds safe.
Wife and I watched them hassle a hawk until it flew away, gen they came back and chilled on our fence. Tossed them some French fries for the work well done
I watched a falcon casually tear a smaller bird into pieces and spit its feathers under a tree in my front yard over the course of 20 minutes
I'm not super familiar with falcon, it was mostly red tails and sharp shinned hawks where I grew up. Smaller birds were always hyper aggressive with the larger predatory birds. I assumed they were trying to chase the larger birds away from their nest or out of their territory. I've never seen a red-tail go after a bird. Its usually snakes, mice, and rabbits.
I saw a hawk and a Robin going at it one day. It fucked me up when the Robin hit the hawk and it started to fall. Didn't see the aftermath as I was driving but either way. Never expected a hawk to lose against a Robin.
This is like that one meme about the kestrel stealing from a falcon or something.
The risk I took was calculated. But man, am I bad at math.
Man, that meme template is really good
That's the one. I remember the first time I saw it I laughed for hours.
Coopers hawk and male house finch? I'm a beginner border pls halp identify
Google tells me Red Shouldered Hawk and Red Crossbill. Maybe that's why they hang out together. Gang colors.
Hmm I'm a beginner myself, but I don't think the beak looks right for a crossbill....
Courage is knowing you're likely to fail, but taking a chance and doing your best anyway. Stupidity is thinking there's little to no risk when there's a lot.
Do not attribute to courage that which can be attributed to stupidity.
Also, "Never Attribute to Malice That Which Is Adequately Explained by Stupidity/Incompetence", one form of Hanlon's razor.
So, Transitively, courage is not malicious?
I've seen more small birds harassing large ones than the other way around. Agility is important in the air. And surprise is important to how large birds hunt.
Though the bird in the picture might be asking for it to get that close while not in the air.
Is that hawk going to scarf on the little one now?
I was watching some crows chase around an eagle the other day. The pathetic squee noises it made like it’s saying “I toldja I was sorry I ate your babies” has me wondering why we have all fallen for this whole eagles are a symbol of power gobbledegook.
