Go Retire Psychiatrist

We got sort of a comedy show by what we suspect are a couple of young Red-tail hawks on our neighbor’s fence. They looked a little clumsy, like they’re still getting used to their wings.

We’re not sure why they were pecking at the ground. And for a couple of seconds they got dive-bombed by little birds, mostly tree swallows.

We’re not expert at all about telling how old the hawks are by looking at the colors of their feathers. They vary a lot in their colors. According to a National Audubon Society article, juveniles tend to have brown tails with darker, narrow crossing bars. Adults tend to have redder tails.

The smaller birds tend to harass them. It’s call mobbing. A Cornell Lab article says there are three kinds of mobbing:

Protect territory or food

Protect themselves or their young

Drive away a predator

The hawks flinch at mobbers, but they don’t get all excited about it. I’m not sure why the hawks weren’t hunting. They seemed to prefer pecking at the grass or roosting on the fence. Maybe they already had breakfast.