There have been a pair of hawks buzzing around our neighborhood recently. Sometimes they’ll share the same tree, but often they simply call to one another from long range. I assume they are mates, but perhaps one is a juvenile.
This morning, my three regular crow visitors let me know in no uncertain terms that there was at least one hawk in my back yard – and he was – perched at the top of my tallest maple tree looking quite annoyed at the pesky crows who were making his life miserable.
The crows flew close, but not too close, squawked, flew away, then came back and squawked some more. Finally, the hawk had all the crow fussing he could handle in one morning and flew away.
The crows went back to their business of pecking at the corn I had scattered especially for them – though the squirrels don‘t understand the “especially” part.
I believe the hawk/hawks in question are Red Shouldered Hawks. They are fairly large birds, about the size of an osprey. They are large enough to polish off a squirrel, but my squirrels generally ignore them. I think these raptors prefer mice when they can catch one, or other smaller rodents.
As long as they leave my bluebirds alone, I don’t mind the hawks using my trees as a vantage point – but my three crows certainly object.