This morning, I was making the rounds of my workplace in order to prepare the site for the day shift. In the course of my walkabout, I startled a black crowned night heron which frequents the site. As soon as the night heron took off, a smaller bird (it looked like a grackle to me, but the distance was considerable) began an aerial chase. The smaller bird relentlessly pursued the heron for a good two minutes, the chase encompassing a distance of perhaps a quarter-mile, taking in the perimeter of a small pond on site.
I knew that songbirds often mob predators such as hawks, and have witnessed such an occurrence on numerous occasions, but I'd never seen a wading bird receive such a mobbing. The chase ended when the heron finally landed on the shore of the pond, and the smaller bird took off.
All told, an excellent show was put on by these two avian adversaries, followed up by a fly-by of my personal favorite on-site bird, our cheeky resident belted kingfisher. Bravo, birdies!
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3 comments:
I've seen crows chase hawks. I've also seen smaller birds harass crows.
"So, naturalists observe, a flea
Has smaller fleas that on him prey;
And these have smaller still to bite 'em,
And so proceed ad infinitum.
Thus every poet in his kind
Is bit by him that comes behind."
Jonathan Swift
~
I used to live across the street from a park with a lot of swallows. At dusk they seemed to use the angle of the sun to spot the bugs you'd disturbed as you crossed the field, so you'd be circled by birds at knee level.
I've seen crows chase hawks. I've also seen smaller birds harass crows.
It seems like a ballsy move, but the little ones seem to be more maneuverable.
I used to live across the street from a park with a lot of swallows. At dusk they seemed to use the angle of the sun to spot the bugs you'd disturbed as you crossed the field, so you'd be circled by birds at knee level.
Swallows are fun to watch- they can pull off the most amazing aerobatics. Bats are also amazingly adept at shifting directions... I could watch bats fly for hours.
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