FreeLists / tn-bird / [TN-Bird] re walking sharpie

[Dnldhlt@xxxxxxx]

     David and Gloria Patterson wrote:

Several times the Sharpie flew up against the foliage, and the small birds 
moved into other parts. Finally a bunch of Cardinals and White-throats fled, 
and the Sharpie took off after one of the Cardinals into the nearby woods.  
Sharpie and Cardinal disappeared into a gully.

Hey David and Gloria,
     That reminds me of a game we sometimes use at camp called Quick Frozen 
Critters, where most of the players are rabbits, and a couple are foxes.  The 
foxes can only catch a rabbit if the rabbit is moving.  If the rabbit is 
frozen, the fox can't touch it, but the fox can do anything else to try to 
spook the rabbit into moving.  It is called 'reaching the threshold of 
threat'.
     The next time I use this game in my work with schoolkids, may I use a 
copy of your posting to emphasize the reality of the phenomenon?
     Another instance of accipter behavior I have seen is a Cooper's Hawk 
missing a strike on the ground when the prey ran under a dense shrub.  The 
hawk hit the ground running and followed the bird right into the shrub.  To 
me, such behavior makes them seem more like small feathered dinosaurs!
Don Holt
Johnson City, TN
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