Beating the Bully

There are times when standing up to a bully really does work. I see it every spring when songbirds are setting up their territories as they prepare for the nesting season. Both parents become incredibly protective and will drive out any threat … even if the threat is much larger than they are.

Here are two such examples:

American Crows will show Red-tailed Hawks no mercy when that hawk makes the mistake of flying too close to a new nest. This particular shot shows the intensity of that type of interaction. This foolish hawk seemed fine to quickly leave the crow’s territory, but the crow just kept following and dive-bombing. Eventually, the skirmish was settled, and the hawk flew off in the opposite direction.

The next example took place in a steady rain at Montezuma Wildlife Refuge in mid-May. This Bald Eagle made the mistake of flying too low over the nesting territory of a Red-winged Blackbird. Now, an eagle would typically not have a blackbird on their menu as they prefer to taste of ducks, geese, or seafood. But, no matter, the RWBB looks at anyone getting too close to eggs and mates as a mortal enemy (even I have been hounded when I’ve run too close to a nest on one of my trail runs). This eagle ended up landing away from the blackbird’s territory but still had to deal with a bit of harassment for a few more minutes.