Tweet
Size means nothing....
Unless it's a photochop it looks like a red-tailed hawk got too close to a North American red-winged blackbirds nest. Looks real though as I've seen this kind of thing before.
Male red-wings (this is a male - females are dull colored) don't take kindly to that kind of incursion and will attack viciously, even if the predator is much larger than they are. They'll chase 'em for a mile or more, land on then peck the hell out of 'em until they leave. Quite a show if you get to see it.
Very, very aggressive defenders of their turf, and if the female's on the nest they'll even attack humans, dogs, cats or even deer and other big game. If several nests are in a given area all the males may mob a single intruder.
Fearless doesn't begin to describe them.
For scale: in our area red tailed hawks frequently have a wingspan of 5 feet.
Male red-wings (this is a male - females are dull colored) don't take kindly to that kind of incursion and will attack viciously, even if the predator is much larger than they are. They'll chase 'em for a mile or more, land on then peck the hell out of 'em until they leave. Quite a show if you get to see it.
Very, very aggressive defenders of their turf, and if the female's on the nest they'll even attack humans, dogs, cats or even deer and other big game. If several nests are in a given area all the males may mob a single intruder.
Fearless doesn't begin to describe them.
For scale: in our area red tailed hawks frequently have a wingspan of 5 feet.