Kurt,
 I have witnessed similar mobbing by Red-shouldered Hawks and American Crows and the culprit turned out to be a Great Horned Owl, at Layhill Park, in Montgomery Couty.

Rick Sussman
Woodbine,MD


So, it would appear that the victim of the mobbing was another
ed-shouldered Hawk.  Do woodpeckers normally mob hawks?  Did the other
awk come to lend morale support?  I am pretty puzzled by all this.
Kurt Schwarz







-----Original Message-----
From: Kurt Schwarz <>
To: MDOSPREY <>
Sent: Sun, Sep 25, 2011 2:00 pm
Subject: [MDOSPREY] Odd Mobbing Behavior


Janet's posting prompted me to toss this out for consideration.
This morning at Middle Patuxent Environmental Area on the Trotter Road
oop (don't ask what trail that is, I can't seem to learn the silly
olors) along the river, we observed at least 25 American Crows mobbing
OMETHING.  Joining the mob were at least one each Hairy, Red-bellied, and
ileated and two Northern Flickers, plus five or more Blue Jays.  The
rows seemed to have the vehemence they reserve for owls, and the presence
f the woodpeckers also led me to suspect the presence of an owl.
owever, inexplicably, a Red-shouldered Hawk came in, perched 20 yards
way and called.  For the life of me, I could not figure out why a
ed-shouldered Hawk would venture near a large mass of crows, and was
naware of any mobbing behavior carried out by buteos, so....  After a
hile, another Red-shouldered Hawk call came from the area where all the
ttention was focused.    Things eventually quieted down, and we went on
ur way without spotting the source of the commotion.
So, it would appear that the victim of the mobbing was another
ed-shouldered Hawk.  Do woodpeckers normally mob hawks?  Did the other
awk come to lend morale support?  I am pretty puzzled by all this.
Kurt Schwarz
owCo
oawaybird at verizon dot net
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