That's right! A hawk is looking for prey here by my house. He is flying from house roof to roof and to a telephone pole. I have been watching it for a good amount of time. The usual birds are following the hawk. I have always been amazed at how Hawks get pestered by many little birds. Anyways... the hawk flies to the top of the telephone pole, I see other birds, not bothering the hawk, but flying in the vacinity and waiting. Then I see a hummingbird fly right up to the hawks face! It stayed there about 5 seconds and then flew away.

Wonder what it was doing! LOL Guess the same thing it does when it flies up to us for a little bit. Can't imagine the hummingbird was defending the territory.

Glad I saw that!

Ken

Central NJ
USDA Zone 6
:C)

So funny. Those little birds are quite brave aren't they?! We usually have a hawk or 2 in our backyard and the hummers always buzz them out of here too, it's very entertaining! Our hawks disappear when our barn owl shows up though, he's here now...doesn't matter to the hummingbirds though, they try so hard to buzz him off too but he just sits there on his perch and shakes his head at them:)

Hi Kim,

How cool is that! I guess the hummers know they could be in danger, but that the can out maneuver the hawk.

On the PBS special "Magic in the Air" there was a segment on hummers and hawks. Basically stated that even though the hummers could be in danger around them, the hummers build their nests near the hawk's nest and the thinking was that the danger of the hawks would keep the other natural preditors away from the hummer's nest.

Central NJ
USDA Zone 6
:C)

I bet that was a great special to see, I missed it! Isn't it amazing how smart they are? I was concerned when I had a couple of nests so close to our high traffic areas, such as the front AND back door (at the same time) so I came here for advice and that's exactly what someone else said..they are probably using us to ward off predators..genius:) Worked out well though, they all got very use to us and all 4 babies fledged and are still here!

Go to pbs.org and do a search for it, it was worth watching!!!!!!

Central NJ
USDA Zone 6
:C)

Wow hummingbirds are very brave and curious little birds. I'm scared for my birds when the wintering cooper hawks get to my area. They come every year and perch on the same tree I have my feeder. These hawks are always preying on my poor doves. Whenever I'm out I scare the hawk away! I know the circle of life but I don't want it happening in my yard and with my birds!!
Erika

Wow, Ken, I just watched the PBS special...amazing! It actually taught me a lot! I had never even heard of some of those species. And when they showed Nancy N...I was like "I know her!" LOL, I don't 'know' her but she's been very helpful to me on here so it was nice to put a face with her name and see her doing great work. That hawk segment was intriguing! Thanks so much for sharing:)

Hummers - the chiwahwah of the bird world. yes i know i misspelled it.




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Hi:
I saw the PBS special. It was amazing. Here is the link to it:
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/hummingbirds-magic-in-the-air/video-full-episode/5475/