[bcbirdclub] Rusty Blackbirds and Red-shouldered Behavior
- From: "Roger Mayhorn" <mayhorn@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "Buchanan County Bird Club" <bcbirdclub@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 6 Nov 2007 22:16:56 -0500
Hi All,
Yesterday two Rusty Blackbirds were feeding here in our yard on Compton Mt.
Today the number had grown to seven.
At one time feeding under one bush were, 4 Rusties, 3 Red-wings, a juvenile
White-crowned Sparrow, 3 White-throated Sparrows, 2 Song Sparrows, 2 Dark-eyed
Juncos, 1 male House Finch, 1 male Eastern Towhee and 2 male Cardinals.
We've had Purple Finches and Pine Siskins almost every day for the last couple
of weeks, but none today.
Within the last 3 days Cooper's, Sharp-shinned and Red-shouldered Hawks have
come into the yard to stay for awhile.
I was surprised to see a Red-shouldered sit in a tree in full view of 3 Gray
Squirrels about 30 yards away, as they fed under the feeders. Earlier in the
day I had seen the hawk near the edge of the woods eating a small rodent,
possibly a chipmunk.This time the hawk sat in this tree for nearly an hour. The
squirrels ignored it, and it ignored the squirrels. When the squirrels would
scamper across the yard I could see the hawk turn or bend its head to watch,
but it never attempted to catch one. I might have expected that behavior from a
Sharp-shinned or possibly even a Cooper's, but not from a Red-shouldered.
In fact, a few weeks ago I saw a Gray Squirrel climb a tree to within six or
seven feet of a Cooper's Hawk. The hawk peered down at it, but made no attempt
for it.
During this more recent encounter, when the Red-shouldered flew from the tree
around 30 or 40 feet in the air, it flew almost directly over the area where
the squirrels were feeding, but the squirrels did not run, and did not quit
feeding.
Does anyone else find that behavior a bit odd for a buteo?
A pair of young Red-shouldereds was raised in the nearby woods this summer, and
that is where the squirrels live. Might this have been a young hawk that didn't
yet have the confidence to attempt Gray Squirrels, and the squirrels somehow
understood that?
Roger Mayhorn
Compton Mt
Buchanan County
Other related posts:
- » [bcbirdclub] Rusty Blackbirds and Red-shouldered Behavior
