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A Mobbing: Patterns in the Sky Starlings and a Cooper's Hawk | October 18, 2005 |
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While Sue and I were walking in the game land just north of Cooper's Pond, we saw a spectacular mobbing of an immature Cooper's hawk by hundreds of starlings.
At the time, I wasn't sure whether it was a Cooper's hawk or what the mobbing birds were, but Dan Ombalski of the Tussey Mountain Hawkwatch kindly identified both species for me. He had the following to say about the hawk:
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The above photo is a detail from the following, which shows the mass of surrounding starlings.
Although the starlings, below, look like they're at a flat level, they formed a cone with a few birds in front and the remainder following, with all the birds keeping their position order. |
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Whichever way the hawk turned, the starlings followed. |
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Unfortunately, the lens I was using was too much of a telephoto to capture the entire contingent of starlings. However, they were considerate enough to allow some side views, which show the height of the cone.
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It is as if the Cooper's hawk were slicing through the starlings. | |
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And a final view of the Cooper's hawk, who is remarkably beautiful. | |
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Along with the main group of starlings were two smaller groups of forty to fifty birds each flying nearby. The encounter ended when the Cooper's hawk stopped trying to gain altitude but soared down into one of the smaller flocks. And then they all disappeared behind the trees.
Photo note: I used a Pentax *ist D, with the SMC reflex 400-600mm lens at the 600mm end.
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