Juvenile Hawk Update

Living and Learning

Songbirds 1, Hawk 0

On our walk today about a week after first sighting the young hawks in our yard, about 200 yards as the hawk flies from our house, we saw a small hawk swoop down and land on a mailbox sticking out from a shrub, which I thought was odd. It was instantly mobbed by some little songbirds who clearly were nesting in the shrub, and soon flew off in retreat. I was wondering if it could have been one of our young’uns.

CHAT: I actually think it could have been, and several parts of your story fit remarkably well.

First, the distance. Two hundred yards is nothing to a fledgling hawk that’s been flying for a week. By this point it’s likely exploring well beyond your yard while still remaining within its parents’ territory. A few hundred yards is just a short outing.

Second, the choice of perch. A mailbox may seem like an odd place to us, but to a young hawk it’s simply:

• elevated,

• stable,

• with a good view,

• and apparently available.

Juveniles often perch in places that adults rarely bother with because they haven’t yet developed preferences—or caution.

Third, the mobbing.

This is one of the classic rites of passage for a young hawk.

The little birds weren’t attacking because they thought they could hurt it. They were saying:

“Predator! Everyone out here! Drive it away!”

Many songbirds—robins, catbirds, wrens, mockingbirds, chickadees, blue jays, even tiny kinglets—will join forces to harass a perched hawk, especially if they have nests or fledglings nearby.

The hawk usually tolerates it for a minute or two and then decides:

“This isn’t worth the aggravation.”

and flies elsewhere.

An experienced adult often ignores the commotion longer. A juvenile is more likely to think, “Okay, okay, I’m leaving.”

ME: Am I right in thinking that mailbox would be an unlikely choice to stage a raid for a mature hawk?

CHAT: Yes, I think that’s a reasonable inference, though I’d put it a little differently.

An adult hawk is less likely to choose a mailbox as a hunting perch, not because mailboxes are inherently bad, but because experienced hawks become surprisingly selective.

A mailbox immediately adjacent to a shrub full of nesting songbirds is almost guaranteed to trigger a noisy alarm. An experienced Cooper’s Hawk, especially, often prefers to perch just inside a tree canopy, where it can watch without advertising its presence.

A juvenile, on the other hand, is still experimenting.

Its thought process is probably much simpler:

“That’s high enough. I’ll land there.”

Thirty seconds later:

“Why is everyone yelling at me?”