Barnyard Bonus!
An unexpected sighting! At the barn on Monday evening, a Sharp-shinned Hawk and a Red-Tailed Hawk spent the night. Both soared the high ceilings of the barn and took refuge on the gates between the pens of cows or on the horizontal siding of the walls. At one point, the Red-tailed Hawk must have ventured a little too close to the Sharp-shinned Hawk and the latter let out several high calls and swerved out of the larger bird’s way. Both of their I returned the several days later and they were gone; out of the tall barn doors in which they came. Once again, the barn was loud and full of the sounds of Sparrows, Rock Pigeons, and European Starlings.
Observations
Photos / Sounds
What
Cooper's Hawk (Accipiter cooperii)Observer
claudia-sacksDescription
A bonus sighting! At the barn on Monday evening, a Sharp-shinned Hawk and a Red-Tailed Hawk spent the night. Both soared the high ceilings of the barn and took refuge on the gates between the pens of cows or on the horizontal siding of the walls. At one point, the Red-tailed Hawk must have ventured a little too close to the Sharp-shinned Hawk and the latter let out several high calls and swerved out of the larger bird’s way. I returned the several days later and they were gone; out of the tall barn doors in which they came. Once again, the barn was loud and full of the sounds of Sparrows, Rock Pigeons, and European Starlings.
Comments
So cool!! Did you observe either of the hawks interacting with any of the smaller birds? Seems like easy dinner... but maybe if they had tried to catch one, the flocks would have mobbed them and driven them out of the warm barn. Was it super cold that night?
Usually the barn is teaming with starlings/pigeons/house sparrows, but that night, it was silent! The smaller birds were nowhere to be seen when the hawks were in the barn. I wasn't there when the hawks first got there but wonder what the initial interaction was like.
Add a Comment