Date: Tue, 28 Jan 2003 23:33:02 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Janet Millenson Subject: Conspicuous hawk MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Yesterday there was a Red-tailed Hawk perched in a tree in my yard, and even from a distance it was as big and white and eye-catching as the full moon on a clear night. Presumably any squirrels in the vicinity could see it too and were lying low. Seriously, how does a bird so conspicuous succeed as a predator? By contrast, on many other occasions I've been unable to locate a Red-shoulder, Sharpie or Cooper's that I know for sure is practically in front of me, only seeing it when it flushes and flies away. How do Red-tails compensate for their relative inability to blend into the background? (By the way, there was a Fox Sparrow in my yard today, the first of the season, and I've already heard a Tufted Titmouse tuning up its song. Spring is on the way!) Janet Millenson Potomac, MD (Montgomery County) janet@twocrows.com ------------------------------------------------------------------ "Look at the birds!" -- Pascal the parrot ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey =======================================================================