I once had a Mourning Dove being pursued by an accipiter just off-shore over Lake Erie. The dove suddenly dropped to the water and narrowly escaped the clutches of the hawk, which then left the area. The dove sat in the water for a couple of minutes and then a Herring Gull came and sat next to it. Shortly, the gull applied a single deft whack to the back of the head of the dove and killed it. I expected it to then start having a meal but instead, it lifted off and flew away. Throughout this encounter, I did not know what species of bird was being persecuted, as it was still dawn. So, I waded out into the lake (fortunately I had shorts on) to examine the bird.
I suspect that this kind of behavior is not all that unusual when a bird’s life is on the line. The bird being pursued has to make a quick decision, which involves risk no matter what it does. In this case the avoidance tactic appeared to work but the bird’s delay in not getting off the water quickly proved its demise. Good birding! Willie D’Anna Wilson, NY dannapotter <AT> roadrunner.com From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Richard Guthrie Sent: Thursday, September 04, 2014 8:48 PM To: [email protected] Cc: [email protected]; NYSBIRDS_L; [email protected] Subject: Re: [nysbirds-l] Forster's Tern - Erie County 9/2/14 While banding Spotted Sandpipers back in the 70's, I had one jump into the water, swim away, then dive. I could see it "flying" underwater. I pulled back since I didn't want it to become bass bait. It came ashore OK. Rich Guthrie New Baltimore New York [email protected] On Wed, Sep 3, 2014 at 5:18 PM, <[email protected]> wrote: Yesterday I had a juvenile Forster's Tern at Hamburg Town Park, along with 38 Boneparte's, 122 Ring-Billed and 16 Herring Gulls. This past Sunday I observed a juvenile Cooper's Hawk fly low along the edge of the cattail marsh at Times Beach. The bird flushed 2 Spotted Sandpipers - one of which dove into the water to avoid capture! The bird popped up and flew away after being submerged for 2-4 seconds - I have never observed this sort of behavior in a Spotty of any other shorebird species. Joe Fell Buffalo, NY [email protected] -- NYSbirds-L List Info: <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME> Welcome and Basics <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES> Rules and Information <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> Subscribe, Configuration and Leave Archives: The Mail Archive <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html> <http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L> Surfbirds BirdingOnThe.Net <http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html> Please submit your observations to <http://ebird.org/content/ebird/> eBird! -- -- Richard Guthrie -- NYSbirds-L List Info: <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME> Welcome and Basics <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES> Rules and Information <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> Subscribe, Configuration and Leave Archives: The Mail Archive <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html> <http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L> Surfbirds BirdingOnThe.Net <http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html> Please submit your observations to <http://ebird.org/content/ebird/> eBird! -- -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
