Coopers Hawk v. Northern Harrier

I was photographing a Kingfisher when I saw a Northern harrier on the other side of the road so I switched my attention to that just as this Cooper's Hawk came out of no where to fight off the Harrier. They basically flew in a big circle before the Harrier turned its back to the Cooper's who promptly headed in the opposite direction. Not sure what the argument was about, but I was a little surprised to see it go down!

Sadly I wasn't expecting it, AND had overcast skies so these are the 2 best photos... if I had a SS of about 1/2500 I probably would have nailed them all. Oh well, there is always tomorrow!

Cropped to about 40% of original

- Luke

here's the next frame

Neat! That's a species interaction I've never seen.

Kind of reminds me of the Sharp-shinned Hawk vs. Hawk Owl I witnessed while we were shooting the owl.

This link provides a possible answer.

Mike

http://www.avianweb.com/northernharriers.html

I checked the link ??? That possible answe escaped my notice. That "possible answer" may be..........?

David - I think he was referring to this line "During the breeding season northern harriers become very territorial and will attack other hawks, birds or even humans that approach their nesting areas." So the interaction was probably due to the hawk getting close to the harrier's nest.

I doubt that is the case as

A) It's early for harriers to begin nesting

B) I believe the harriers in this area are migratory

C) the Cooper's hawk was the aggressor, not the Harrier

Hmmm....as a non-birder, protecting a nest makes sense. Is there anything else that would make this guy so territorial? Fight for food maybe?

Could have been a fight over food - however after this fracas both hawks flew way in opposite directions. Another weird thing is it's not typical Cooper's Hawk habitat. It was in a marshy area of an ocean dune on a barrier island. I've seen Cooper's Hawks there before but never adults.

My guess is that the Harrier was hanging out on the ground, and the Cooper's Hawk flew by and perhaps wanted to let the Harrier know he wasn't going to be messed with? I e-mailed the photos to Jerry Liguori who said he HAS seen similar interactions with these species, but rarely, and didn't offer a possible explanation.

- Luke

Well. not understood tho' it may be by us, the birds certainly understood the dynamics of the moment and that you were on hand to take those amazing shots was fortunate, Too often someone will report an interesting interaction and someone else, of assumed long experience will say: "you must be wrong on the species...that sort of thing just doesn't happen...totally inexplicable...! Never seen such a thing! Harrumph !"

Well, now we've seen it !

Your skill and preparedness and being in the right place at the right time and your sharing of the evidence, unexplained tho' it may be, has paid off for all of us. Many thanks!

Dave Graham

"One can only see what one observes, and one observes only things which are already in the mind. "
Alphonse Bertillon