As I walked out of the house this guy landed on a lamp post.
It is a Harrier Hawk (Polyboroides typus), and further down in the post I will show you why we call him the pirate.
Every late winter season they hang around here, because there are two of them, and they sit spying on the nests that the birds build before the spring season. The hawks are very intelligent, and they can time the nest build to the birth of the babies. As soon as the babies are born, they will clear the nest out. They also know when to come into this area when the crows are absent.
Whenever the hawks get excited, their yellow faces turn a salmon pink color. I have a photo of it somewhere that I will show you in another post. All of the smaller birds in nature are scared of these hawks, and the squirrels also hide their babies. These birds can climb trees, from the ground up, and we have seen them dig in the palm trees to search for rodent and squirrel nests.
A closer look at the hawk.
As soon as he landed, the smaller birds flew away.
A guineafowl popped up on to a roof, to keep an eye on the hawk.
The hawk took off from the lamppost, but I could hear by his call that he landed down the road.
Look at the bent section of branch just below the top of the big tree, at the right-hand side.
I zoomed the hawk, and yeah it was indeed pirate, as his left eye was missing. Ten to one, a fight with a Pied crow.
There, you can see now that the eye is gone.
Thankfully he still has his right eye, and we just hope that he will not lose it.
This guineafowl came to sit on the tree at the right-hand side of the big tree, still keeping an eye on the hawk.
Two other guineafowls came to sit on a tree below the big tree.
Look how brave this guineafowl was, as it wanted a clear sight of the hawk.
So, why do you think the guineafowls were watching the hawk? The guineafowls are big birds, but their babies are not, and they cannot fly so they are easy prey for the hawk. Small puppies and kittens, playing in a backyard, are also not safe from the hawks. Strange that the crows were not around at this time, as they patrol and protect their territories throughout the day, and they will also not like that hawk to raid their nests. We have seen a harrier hawk raiding the nest of a Hadeda Ibis, and carrying its big baby in its claws. Not too far back, I did a post where a hawk lifted an adult dove off its nest, and flying away with it. Very distressing, but we understand that this is the way of nature.
Such is life.
I hope you enjoyed the pictures and the story.
Photos by Zac Smith. All-Rights-Reserved.
Camera: Canon PowershotSX70HS Bridge camera.
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