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The Magpie and the Hawk

My image of the Black-Billed Magpie as an intelligent and fearless bird 
was tarnished today-maybe even shattered. At the same time, my image of 
the Sharp-Shinned Hawk as a fearless hunter was much improved. 

To preface the story that follows, I've never seen an accipiter "do it's 
thing" in the air. Most former sightings have been of lazy-flapping, 
nearly docile birds, leaving the impression that they couldn't 
accelerate if they had to. There was no "running for the binoculars" 
this time. (Ha! I already had them nearby.)

The story begins at 9:00 a.m. today. While casually watching out the bay 
window at nearby feeders, the Finches scattered as they usually do 
(about a hundred times a day) for seemingly no reason. Usually for 
almost any reason at all, they'll be pecking away, then two-thirds of 
them will hasten to cover in a nearby (but exposed) tree. The remaining 
third usually look around then resume feeding, as if to say "What are 
ya, chicken?" but within two seconds of the first exodus, the remaining 
third exploded into flight.....and they looked scared as they exited. 
This sudden exit flipped on my hawk radar and I looked up to see a 
Sharp-Shinned hawk gliding to a lazy landing in the neighbor's Locust 
tree.

The hawk looked rather uninterested as it changed positions several 
times in the leafless tree. Suddenly it dove to the ground; again, 
rather non-aggressively. Two Mourning Doves flushed out from their 
unseen position behind the vinyl fence that divides our yards. They were 
in high gear, and though I couldn't see what the hawk did while on the 
ground, it quickly flew up and re-positioned itself on the golf course 
chain link fence that borders all our backyards....indicating a miss. I 
got some nice views through the binocs during this perch.

Shortly, two heckling Magpies appeared on the scene. Apparently they'd 
been trailing the hawk as it moved about the largish area comprising my 
neighbor's back yards and the golf course. They positioned themselves in 
the Locust tree, rather close to the hawk's perch. As one of the Magpies 
left the tree to seek a new heckling position elsewhere, the hawk 
exploded off the fence and chased the Magpie through a series of evasive 
manuevers then returned to a new position on the fence. The chase was a 
clear victory for the hawk, who stayed nose-to-tail behind the Magpie as 
indication it could fly circles around the Magpie. Wow, that was 
impressive!

This is the point where the Magpies should've got the hint and gone 
home, but NO....these weren't smart Magpies.

Shortly, the hawk moved to the next tree to the North (still within easy 
view). The Magpies followed, taking a perch within 15' of the hawk. The 
hawk tolerated this with seeming disinterest. Did I say this hawk seemed 
hungry? Seemed so, for the instant one of the hecklers left it's perch 
and became clear of the tree's obstructions, the hawk exploded again in 
what I might call "full attack mode". The hawk closed quickly on the 
idiot Magpie who was easily the same size, if not larger than this 
Sharpie. The chase took place in a shallow dive, probably so the Magpie 
could gain more speed, and they both disappeared out of sight behind a 
neighbor's fence two yards to the North. I didn't see the hawk or Magpie 
come up after disappearing.

"Holy cow! Can a Sharpie take a Magpie?" was my thought as I frantically 
ran for gloves and shoes, knowing I'd have to cross the 12' tall chain 
link fence in the back yard. I fully expected to see a Magpie being 
disrobed in the neighbor's yard. A minute of shoe-tying passed, and as I 
ran to the fence (so as to travel North through the golf course to gain 
easy view of the neighbor's yard), a nearby tree now had 6 Magpies in 
it. "A sure sign of carnage," I thought.

As I approached the zone of disappearance, the Magpies flew off and 
there was no sign of either hawk or Magpie. I found the hawk again, 
nearly a block to the North working trees in the golf course, but it 
soon flew back to other neighbor's yards and I quickly lost sight of it. 
No kills witnessed.

What I learned from all this: 1) hawks on the prowl get quite a 
following of other birds, the bravest/stupidest of which is the Magpie; 
2) hawks with attitude will show larger heckling birds who the "boss" 
really is; 3) if a Sharpie can get relatively close to any prey other 
than the Mourning Dove, it can easily overtake the other bird in the 
air; 4) Sharpies, if not other accipiters, seem to become excited by a 
fleeing bird; 5) based on what I saw, LBJ's could not out-maneuver 
Sharpies! 6) Accipiters have two speeds: lazy, and insanely explosive! 
Before this morning, I could not understand how a hawk could chase down 
an LBJ that already had a head start. Now I can see how that can easily 
happen.

This was a great experience for me-one that has been long-awaited.
John
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