a few years back, was intrigued at juanita bay park to watch a rufous
hummingbird take on, in quick succession, a red-winged blackbird and a
great blue heron.

both opponents found it easier to move elsewhere than to stick around and
be hounded mercilessly...

fwiw, my memorial neurons want to say this occurred early-to-mid august, so
also outside nesting... my guess is they have the same biting
ego/personality genes as a tiny canine rugrat, sans bark...

00 caren
http://www.ParkGallery.org
george davis creek, north fork


On Mon, Aug 5, 2013 at 10:57 AM, Rob Sandelin <nwnature1 at gmail.com> wrote:

> This morning I sat in my usual favorite spot in the garden for a hour or
> so.
> Lots of bees and butterflies danced amid the flowers, and there was a line
> up waiting to bath in the garden stream including two western tanagers.
> With
> a sudden rush of wings a Coopers hawk landed very close, less than ten feet
> away perhaps attracted by the action at the stream. Less than a minute
> later
> a hummingbird buzzed literally in the hawks face. The hawk rolled its head
> forward and snapped its bill at the micro bird who then zipped around
> behind
> the hawk and appeared to poke the hawk mid back with its beak before
> zipping
> around in front again. The hawk started stepping sideways on the branch
> jerking its shoulders and twice it leaned forward to snap at the hummer.
>
> The difference in size between the antagonist and the victim was
> astonishing
> and after another bit of abuse from the tiny green warrior, the mighty
> fearsome hawk flew away.
>
> As far as I know hummingbirds are way done nesting at this point so I
> wondered what motivated the tiny bird to take such a risk? A pissed off
> hummingbird is nothing to trifle with.
>
> Rob Sandelin
> Naturalist, Writer, Teacher
> Snohomish County, WA
>
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