Goshawks and little birds

[Hugh Kingery]

I asked the question on this forum about our Goshawks & the little birds feeding actively with those 3 big predators within 10 feet.

How come all these little guys feed without compunction with these scary predators around?

These answers came to me personally, but I think they are worth sharing.

Kevin Corwin             

    I would guess 2 possibilities, probably conjoined: They're too quick to be caught by a large bird that has to get all that mass up to speed in a short distance; and their small size makes them not worth the effort.  Squirrels, on the other hand, are good eatin'!

 

Bob Andrews:        
    Perhaps the smaller birds would sense that they are of lesser interest to a bird as large as a Goshawk; most likely if it had been a Sharp-shinned they wouldn’t have continued feeding. But one would think the squirrels would be terrified. I suppose it was a family group, but really amazing to see that many Goshawks together, especially at this time of year.

Dave Leatherman                   

    Since Fox Squirrels are distinctly exotic in your habitat, maybe they have no natural fear of goshawks.  Just a guess. I still think somehow the prey knows by something in the body language of the hawks that they are not in serious hunting mode.

Hugh Kingery
Franktown, CO

[Nathan Pieplow]

Thanks for publishing the interesting replies, Hugh.  I'll share this anecdote: the first goshawk I ever saw was on a CBC in my hometown of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, where goshawks are extremely rare and Fox Squirrels are abundant.  It was the squirrel's behavior that tipped me off about a raptor in the area: it was frozen on the underside of a diagonal branch, not moving a muscle, as though terrified for its life.  Sure enough, moments later an adult Gos came shooting up the edge of the woods. So that squirrel, at least, showed a very distinct fear of goshawks.

Nathan Pieplow
Boulder

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