[obol] Re: bird tag
- From: Wayne Hoffman <whoffman@xxxxxxxx>
- To: "Richard W. Musser" <mussermcevoy@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 30 Dec 2013 10:30:19 -0800
Hi -
I have also seen this tag several times with Northern Flickers and Cooper's
Hawks. Typically the flickers scream bloody murder when being chased, but
thn turn around and re-initiate the chases.
Wayne
On Mon, Dec 30, 2013 at 9:28 AM, Richard W. Musser
<mussermcevoy@xxxxxxxxx>wrote:
> Hi Darrel,
> I too have observed this many times---and it remains a mystery to me
> as to just why they do this. I have seem sharpies and magpies roll around
> on the ground (just like a wrestling match) with both combatants (?)
> separating unscathed. I have not seen this with Coopers hawks or goshawks.
> I don't think "this" is hunting----because no one seems to get hurt---and
> agree it's a very, "odd kind of game." Best regards, Dick Musser (15 mi.
> south of Burns)
>
>
>
>
> On Monday, December 30, 2013 8:52 AM, Darrel Faxon <5hats@xxxxxxxx>
> wrote:
> For years I have observed and puzzled over the seeming games of tag
> played between Sharp-shinned ( and less often Cooper's Hawk) and crows and
> jays. None of these exchanges I have observed, and there have been
> hundreds of them, have ever resulted in a hawk capturing a crow or jay.
> The hawks fly from a perch, make a close pass of the prey, sometimes
> pursuing it in flight for a time, often with talons extended, and then turn
> away to another perch. Steller's Jays in particular seem to willingly
> involve themselves in the game, flying into the same tree as the hawk, and
> often perching within a few feet of it.
> This morning I observed something even more strange. A Pileated
> Woodpecker flew in and perched near the top of a sixty foot tall alder, and
> begin pecking away at the branch. From out of nowhere a Sharp-shinned Hawk
> flew in and made an attack on it. The woodpecker panicked and flew, hawk
> in pursuit. Soon both landed again. Over the next ten minutes the hawk
> made about a dozen passes at the woodpecker, each time coming within
> inches. The first three times, the woodpecker flew to another perch.
> After that, it pretty much ignored the hawk, simply shifting its position
> around to the opposite side of the branch each time the hawk attacked.
> Several Steller's Jays were in attendance, but the hawk paid no attention
> to them. What was even more amazing is that this particular hawk was on
> the small side for the species. It wasn't much larger than the jays. The
> last exchange I saw reversed the process. The hawk was perched in the very
> top of an alder. The woodpecker left its perch about fifty feet away,and
> flew in the general direction of the hawk, swooping upward at one point
> towards it to within five or six feet. Then both flew beyond the scope of
> my vision through the window through which I had watched the exchange.
> I have always wondered if perhaps these exchanges were, at least on
> the part of the hawks, simply a means of sharpening their hunting skills.
> If that is the case, it does seem that at least on occasion, I would
> observe the actual taking of prey, but as stated before, I have never
> observed it even once. And why would a small male Sharp-shin seem so
> determined to practice its skill on a bird twice its size, on it would
> likely be unable to capture if it really intended to do so?
>
> Darrel
>
>
>
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