Nature abhors eye contact. In the natural world it means only one thing.
On Fri, Dec 7, 2018 at 7:15 AM 'Derek Lovitch' via Maine birds <maine-birds@googlegroups.com> wrote:
--Sorry for the typo. That should be "devolveS" not devolveD. Trying to comment proactively.-Derek
Sent from my iPhoneHi all,Before the listserve devolved into one of those classic "not me" Family Circus cartoons, I think there's an important point about bird behavior being left out here.While Deering Oaks Park is a very busy urban park, with kids, dog walkers, and everything else, those people are not paying attention to the hawk, and it knows that. Therefore, they are not deemed a threat. Perhaps disturbing, but not threatening.Now, even a single birder or photographer with a big shiny eye or two is staring at it. Slowly approaching. Perhaps not so slowly. But clearly those shiny eyes continue to be locked on. Or 100 shiny eyes.Which does a bird find more threatening? And, yes, both are definitely less threatening than being attacked by the talons of a territorial Red-tail.It's no different from being at the beach and watching a flock of Sandpipers running between beach blankets and sand castles, only to fly away when you approach and set up your scope to study that interesting one you know has to be a rarity.There are plenty of examples of this, so it is clear that the perception of danger and threat impacts a bird's behavior.How close is too close? Unfortunately, we usually only answer that for sure when it's too late. And clearly, the black hawk is more "confiding" than most other rarities, perhaps in part due to its tolerance of human activity. But that isn't permission to add to the birds' challenges.Just give it some room. Give others a chance, and just put the bird first.-DerekSent from my iPhone--Hi all - as one of the lucky dozens who got to spend a few minutes with this rare hawk today, I watched a bit of the early morning dynamics between bird, birders, and the daily sunrise urban hubbub. A few anecdotes:--
- The sunrise spotters were very few during my time at Deering Oaks (~6:50 - 7:10). As two photographers approached to an arguably respectful distance, the bird chose to fly from its first perch to a perch directly overhead of those same photographers. Thus, they were "stuck" in a posture that looked extremely - yet unintentionally - intrusive. They stayed put and the bird flew again.
- While the bird took its third perch in the span of a few minutes, kids were walking across the park towards their day in school, innocently kicking a soccer ball and pretty oblivious to the goings on. Yippy dogs were yipping nearby. The hawk took it all in, alertly swiveling its head.
- As some birders inched their way closer, and still closer, to the hawk on its third perch in order to get incrementally better photos, I saw the most troubling, subtle, and ambiguous example of the birders' dilemma. There is no bright line here. You get closer and the bird remains on its perch. The birder with a camera next to you gets closer still, and the bird remains. (This feels very similar to the human - bison behavior interface in places like Yellowstone that sometimes leads to a goring). And because the bird may not provide timely feedback on our behavior, we assume that everything's fine, until it is not fine.
For what it's worth: find one spot, enjoy whatever view you get, be thankful, and then remove yourself from the cumulative impact created by our passionate community on the life of a teenage hawk just trying to make it through the winter alive.Craig KSW Harbor
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