mobbed

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Wayne Mallinger from Madisonville writes,

“When the hunter becomes the harassed. A red-tailed hawk gets unmercifully harassed by crows while hunting. Do the crows know that the hawk will not turn and has no interest attacking/killing or fighting back? The hawk ignored or slowly avoided the crows as if they were a minor nuisance, a meal was more important. Eventually the hawk tired of the constant distractions and moved on. Gives new credence that you never want to have to "eat crow.”


Yes. It's a behavior called "mobbing" and the hawk is no threat to the Corvids, it's just mildly annoyed. I've also seen mockingbirds mob a crow, so turn about is fair play.

Wayne’s photo also gives us a chance to review the field markings of a red-tailed hawk; the rufous colored tail is not always easy to see, the light has to hit it just right. And in this photo, the belly band across the raptor’s middle is hard to make out.















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