Hi Tweets:

I've seen crows make contact with flying red-tails several times, though I'd
describe it as more a slap with the foot than the vigorous whack of a
falcon, for instance. Basic scenario is that a red-tail is flying with a
crowd of black tormentors. A crow flying behind the hawk swoops down at the
back or rump of the red-tail, drops and opens one foot, reaches out with the
foot and hits the red-tail as it passes over it. It doesn't look like
there's much force involved - perhaps more of a corvid insult than an
attempt at injury. Red-tails usually seem to ignore it, but may appear to
flinch slightly.
I saw a gull do this once, too, right outside my office window downtown.
That's the only time I've seen a gull get that close to a red-tail, which is
probably a good thing for the gulls, since they certainly lack the agility
of crows.

Ruth Taylor
Seattle/Ballard
rutht at seanet.com