The blackbird in the photo is chasing a Swainson’s Hawk from its nesting territory. The hawk was just doing a flyover, but the small bird was taking no chances. Raptors do take songbird eggs and nestlings, so an investment in caution is a good idea. Swainson’s eat insects for most of the year, hunting down small mammals, reptiles, and sometimes birds only during the nesting season. Swainson’s Hawks are mostly birds of prairies west of Minnesota, although the bird is routinely seen in our state. They winter in South America, moving south in September and October, sometimes many together. I’ve seen a hay field in South Dakota with more than 100 Swainson’s Hawks working the cut grass for grasshoppers, fattening themselves for the migration flight. These birds were photographed recently in North Dakota.

This entry was posted on Monday, August 3rd, 2009 at 9:58 pm and is filed under Bird biology, Bird feeding, Bird interactions, Bird migration. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.