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A Reverse Mobbing A red-tailed hawk disrupts a large flock of starlings | October 26, 2008 |
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Last months I was about to photograph a typical autumn scene in State College: a large flock of starlings sitting close together. Just before I could click the shutter, a red-tailed hawk flew right into their midst, scattering all the starlings. |
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A typical mobbing - at this time of year - generally involves starlings mobbing a hawk, but occasionally I've seen the reverse: a hawk deciding enough is enough and displacing large numbers of birds.
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| Why? I've no idea. Perhaps the hawk was in a foul mood, or perhaps the hawk wanted to let the smaller birds know who was boss. | ||
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The starlings returned to swarm around the red-tailed hawk, but the hawk seemed indifferent to their numbers. |
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A minute or so after the starlings left the area, the red-tailed hawk also departed into a sky free of starlings.
Photo note: I used a Pentax K200D, with the SMC 1000mm reflex lens (handheld), for these photos. |
