Tweets,
Yesterday in Kingston, Jim Flynn and I watched a sharpie take down a
Steller's Jay (a bit large of prey but nothing to write about), then we
watched as the Sharpie began to pull feathers out of the jay. Jim then
noticed that the Jay was still alive. Not only was it still alive but
within moments the Steller's Jay was on top of the sharpie, jabbing its
bill into the sharpie's breast. Imagine the sharpie's suprise as
it saw what had been lunch moments before, now a vicious attacker. The
sharpie (an adult, probably female by size) was flapping its wings in
defense as the jay jabbed and shrieked a few more times. Then as suddenly
as the jay had turned on the sharpie, so did the sharpie to the jay.
Predator again had the upper hand as the sharpie flew into the nearby
conifer with jay in talons. Perhaps mrs.sharpie will learn her lesson and
stick with sparrows, finches and the sort and leave alone the prey that is
big enough to turn on the predator.

Scott Downes
sdownes at u.washington.edu
Seattle WA