Hawk chased off of prey

jrosto · Joined: 03 May 2003 Posts: 241 Location: Arlington

Saw the coolest thing this morning. A hawk came down after a sparrow this morning and was chased off by a group of mocking birds. It was neat watching the mocking birds work together to get rid of the hawk. I've seen them chase off cats and squirrels before, but never a hawk.

Tree Dude · Joined: 08 Jan 2005 Posts: 262 Location: Saginaw,TX

I have them chase hawks quite often. I wander if they ever have chase people. That will be a sight to see :lol: . No wonder mockingbird is our state bird!

Tree Dude

Tricky Grama · Posted: Wed Jun 22, 2005 6:48 am Post subject: hawks?

I've got one for you- we saw a huge flock of crows at the edge of our woods (near Bonham) squaking like crazy. By the time we walked up near them, they flew off, but we found a rabbit carcass hanging in a bois d'arc tree about 8'-10' up! Sort of impaled on a huge thorn. Do you suppose hawks did it? Buzzards? We've seen a dead rat up on a branch in the past also.
Patty

Kathe Kitchens · Joined: 21 May 2003 Posts: 829 Location: Dallas,TX

Yes, mockingbirds will pester humans. I've seen them dive bomb people many times. We've got some in our back yard and they let us know when we get too close to their cedar tree. My little dog doesn't stand a chance. Mostly they just squawk at them, but they'll dive bomb too and peck any kind of bird of creature that gets near their nests at peril of their lives. They have the toughest tag team you've ever seen.

As for the carcass in the tree, that could have been one of several kinds of creatures - feral cats, bobcats, hawks, owls, and others. Interesting.

My my! You have all kinds of critters! Lucky you! 8) :D :lol:
Kathe

Tony M · Joined: 31 Mar 2003 Posts: 1086 Location: McKinney,TEXAS

Along this line, I was riding in my neighbors combine watching him cut wheat. We started from the outside cutting towards the middle. As we cut the last stand of wheat, several rabbits ran out towards the tree line. Within seconds two red tail hawks had captured two of the rabbits.
My buddy says this is common place and the hawks follow him around from field to field.
Tony M

Birdzilla · Joined: 17 Feb 2005 Posts: 131 Location: mckinney,TEXAS

Crows and jays often mob owls and hawks. If you ever see and hear a bunch of crows making a a big fuss there is a good chance they have found an owl or hawk and are trying to drive the raptor out of the area.

There is another little bird in Texas called a Loggerhead Shrike. It looks a lot like a mockingbird but has a black mask. It is sometimes called a "Butcher Bird" after its habit of impalling grasshoppers and mice onto thorns or a barbed-wire fence.

Mikey · Joined: 19 Sep 2005 Posts: 46 Location: Grand Prairie,TEXAS

Good stories. I usually look out of my back window in the morning to watch the doves for a few minutes while I get ready for work. A few weeks ago they were all there as usually, but they weren't pecking at the ground. They were all very still, which made me wander what was happening. A few moments later I notice a large shadow pass by. I thought it was an airplane at first. Then the doves took off quickly. It was a hawk after them. It landed on a branch in our neighbors Mulberry tree and perched there for a minute. I didn't realize how large they were!!! The city of Grand Prairie put out a memo last week about not feeding birds because they attract other wildlife like opossums, racoons, and coyotes. I heard Howard talking about it this weekend. We have a fenced in backyard so I am not worried about the coyotes. We do have a friendly racoon that wonders in every few days. I enjoy watching it though I try not to get too close to it.