The Red Tailed Hawk’s Guide to Hitchhikers
The red tailed hawk perched less than 20 feet from the adult great blue heron and stared at the nest, thinking no doubt about tasty eggs for dinner.

Red tailed hawk being mobbed, with a bird perched on his head.
I wrote the above lines in a post about the symbiotic relationship between cormorants and great blue herons, and how cormorants seemed to stand sentry over the nest. (If you missed that post, you can click here to catch up.)
Other birds also had a presence on the nesting island while the eggs and then chicks were growing that summer, and blue jays in particular created a noisy ruckus when a red tailed hawk ventured too near.

Smaller bird perching on a red tailed hawk.
On many occasions, smaller birds would mob a hawk that had circled close to the island. That’s not surprising at all.
What was surprising, though, was that one of the small mobbing birds landed on the much larger hawk’s head or shoulder, and hung on to the hawk while the hawk flew on, trying to escape the mob.
The mob consisted of several different kinds of birds, including blue jays and grackles. On this day, the bird on the hawk’s head is a blue jay. On a different day when I was lucky enough to witness a red tailed hawk with a hitchhiker, it was a grackle on the hawk’s shoulder.
This is one of those occasions when a 600mm lens would have been great, except that I photograph from a moving kayak on often-rolling waters. It wouldn’t be prudent, as someone famous used to say.
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Thanks to the kind folks at Skywatch Friday.
Thanks once more to Prairiebirder Charlotte for her Feathers on Friday prompt.
Thanks again to Stewart Moncton for the Wild Bird Wednesday prompt.
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(The photos here were taken July 4, 2012)
© 2013 Babsje. (https://babsjeheron.wordpress.com)
Posted on October 18, 2013, in Birds, daily prompt, Feathers on Friday, Kayaking, Nature Photography, postaday, Red tailed hawk, Skywatch Friday, Weekly Photo Challenge, Wild Bird Wednesday, Wildlife Photography and tagged postaday, red tailed hawk, skywatch friday. Bookmark the permalink. 33 Comments.
awesome story and photos! I have read this before:
http://iwishicouldfly.com/iwishicouldfly/journal/html/053007.htm
never seen it in person, but I would love to!
Thanks for your kind comment and the link to the redwinged blackbirds on he hawk. I had seen that before and longed to have had the gear to capture my hitchhiker with the same quality. Amazing, isn’t it?
Magnificent capture ….
Thanks so much! Right place at the right time that day.
Wow, that’s a brave blue jay.
Yes, I agree! Thanks for visiting and commenting!
My brother coined the term “hawk surfing” for when the smaller birds attack a hawk. I most often see red-winged blackbirds hawk surfing, but many others will as well, as your photos show.
Hawk surfing? I love it! Redwinged blackbirds are pretty fearless. I have seen them mobbing a great blue heron, both on land and in flight. The heron must have been too close to their nest. Thanks for visiting and commenting again!
Yes they are, I saw one riding a whitetail deer that had gotten too close to the nest. I missed that photo, darn.
Wow, amazing! Sorry you missed that shot, would have loved to see it, myself.
great
Glad you like it! Thank you for visiting and commenting.
Lovely shots! Happy sky watching.
My sky.
Thanks for your kind comment and the link to your own sky. Lovely trees and autumn leaves and reflection in your photo!
beautiful!!!
Thanks for visiting and your kind comment, glad you like this post!
Nice inviting title! RH
Thanks! I’m glad you noticed the title. I couldn’t figure out a way to get the word “galaxy” in there anywhere a la Douglas Addams, though. 🙂
Crows do this to Baldies…..actually just about every bird out there does this to Baldies or any other raptor around.
I’ve never seen a smaller perch on a Baldie? They are a huge bird but can overturn themselves in a blink of a eye!
I didn’t know that about Crows but not surprised because they are very smart. And have never seen a hitchhiker on a Bald Eagle. A bird would need to be pretty fearless to pick on something the size of an Eagle! Plus your Eagles are very acrobatic!!
when Crows get into a small murder they are fearless!
I had forgotten they gather in a murder of crows. Very apt name!
Oh they most certainly gather in Murders! It’s part of their strength……numbers!
I wonder who coined the term Murder for a gaggle of Crows. I call a gaggle of Great Blue Herons a “Patience of Herons.”
In this site. https://www.e-know.ca/regions/east-kootenay/public-help-needed-to-find-bat-roosts-and-count-bats/
They use a Scattering,Siege or Sedge
That is fascinating! Thanks for the link. My former home had bats. One came in with the pizza delivery man. 😊
sounds like a pizza vampire!
Ha! It flapped about inside the house and then mysteriously vanished…perhaps editing through the chimney.
https://www.countrylife.co.uk/nature/collective-nouns-for-birds-68344
This is great thank you. I love murmuration of starlings. Both the sound of the word and the visuals of how the starlings dance together in flight.
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