"Seeing is Believing!"

Seeing is believing!  Across a ways, on the highest branch sits a Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis).  A lone Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchus) has also spotted this illustrious creature and proceeds to swoop down to harass the bird.  Its guttural calls rise and fall with each passing arc. 

At times the hawk opens its bill in protest but generally seems to shrug off the interloper.  It is the breeding season for both species so this individual crow is protecting its territory as the hawk will prey on its chicks. 

Often this brazen behavior involves a flock of crows called ‘mobbing,’ where they harass the heck out of birds of prey.

I hope to take advantage of this scenario and capture the bird as it takes to the air.  So from my balcony, with my back to the late afternoon sun, I wait.  I glance off to the side for a couple of seconds and then refocus and find the bird is gone!  I scan to either side before I discover it heading in my direction, with purpose!  I am about to home-in on its approach but it is already in my front yard, talons splayed and only manage to catch a last glimpse of its trademark red-orange tail crashing into the brush.  It is hidden from view but after a minute it quickly bursts into the air, flies through a set of trees...

...and lands atop a nearby utility pole.  I race outside to seize the moment.  I am surprised by what I find, tightly clenched in its claws is a ground squirrel.  This is a regular food item for hawks in this area.   

What is so astonishing is to have these series of events happen so suddenly! I know this is a daily event, but until you see the scenario play out right in front of you does it give you an entirely different perspective.  Let me give you an example, so bear with me here. Try this, take a newspaper or open a magazine and place it two feet from your position.  There is generally various sized fonts so there should be something there that is legible – use glasses if need be.  Now march off twenty paces, turn around and try it again – “Exactly!”  Some research claims that hawks can see eight times further than humans, having a visual acuity of 20/2.  So your meagre 'two-foot' space is how the hawk can perceive it at 'twenty!'  Let us raise the bar, at 100 feet in the air it will discern the movement of a mouse!  “Good luck with that!”  Better yet, It is often stated that when soaring as much as a mile high it can detect movement of larger prey, such as a rabbit.  “Need I say more?!”  Look through a pair of 8X binoculars to get an idea of its visual acuity.

So, what makes this moment so special is to witness this killing machine utilizing these physical attributes right on my doorstep!  Most intriguing is to witness this hawk spotting its prey from such a distance - conservativly I estimated it at about the length of 2.5 football fields, close to 800 feet away! 

The circle in the distance is where the hawk was perched.  The circle in the foreground is where the ground squirrel met its demise.  Later, I took this image from my phone.  I tried to get it as close as possible to a human eye’s perspective.

Do not forget, it was done so even with that crazy crow in its face!

Now I hope you understand having the facts and then seen these series of events unfold: It targeted the squirrel, locked in, took off (This image was taken from an earlier episode.)...

...went into a stoop (wings folded together), and quickly delivered a death grip on impact with 200psi (pounds per square inch) from its talons.  “Awesome!”

Here it is tearing apart its meal.

It is ironic that as I am doing my final editing to this article, I see the the exact scenario unfolding outside of my window! "It is deja vu all over again!"

Its crop full, it is time to take wing...,

...catch the updraft of a warming thermal, and find a place to rest.

Location: Orange County, California

Date: April of 2025