The third week of April we finally got a day that was both clear and calm and even a bit warm making a walk in the nearby woods wonderful. Several migrants had blown in with the southerly wind and I spent many minutes admiring their festive plumage on Ukrainian Eastern Orthodox Easter day. The local residents, though, also strutted on stage and put on an interesting show.

This Red-tailed Hawk may look nervous to you. It is. It deliberately picked a perch with lots of branches around and above it. And it kept turning to look around. It could hear the Cawing of outrage from a nearby street light.

Thjs American Crow was not happy to have a hawk near its nesting site.

No Where Safe to Sit for Solitary Red-tailed Hawk

No matter where this young Red-tailed Hawk tried to perch, within a few minutes an American Crow would start hounding it to move. The Crow would caw out threats then start swooping towards the head and eyes of the hawk.

Whether the hawk felt threatened or not, it would eventually give up and start flying. The Crow followed in hot pursuit its caws sounding like jeers to a human.

It is hard to see in this blurred photo, but the hawk’s tail is starting to get the red of an adult bird.

After the third rout, I turned my back to the wood lot to take photos of a Blue-headed Vireo hunting basking bees in the branches of a budding tree. Minutes later, when I turned, I saw the Hawk had landed on the grass not far from me.

Curious, I started taking photos. I figured it had caught a mouse or something similar. Nope!

Nobody Likes Me; Everybody Hates Me; I’m Going to Eat Some Worms

And so it did. And yes, it was a long, slim, slimey one! The Red-tailed Hawk was eating an earthworm!

Fortified by its snack, it called quietly then flew to another, hopefully hidden, perch.

I’m not sue this was its proudest moment and perhaps not its finest hour. I gave it privacy and continued on my ramble only to discover another wonderful migrant a few yards further away.

Related Reading

• Red-Tailed Hawk Gets Bombed
• Crows Chase Owl
• Cooper’s Hawk Confirms Its Kill
• Cooper’s Hawk Raises a Rattray Family

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