Al :) Question for you - could a Grey Goshawk take a Blue Faced Honeyeater?
the reason i ask is this morning the honeyeaters were so noisy that i went to investigate - the currawongs had chased a Grey Goshawk out of a tree and probably for the next 10 minutes the BFH buzzed it from one side of the my patch of the sky to the other - i can understand when they have young to protect but everytime we have a BOP the BFH are always involved.
do they know they are reasonally save? just trying to understand why they put themselves in harms way everytime - and they are so much smaller
thanks Kym
Size doesn't seem to be a factor (so they say). Consider the Willie Wagtail which harrasses anything & everything as necessary.
I am afraid I am not Al so I cannot answer this question.
Al or not you can answer it if you want
Of course it can take it!
thanks Woko & Windhover - i was looking for a bit more information but doesn't matter
Myky50, when a hunter targets prey they tend to focus/concentrate on an individual to increase their chance of success as many more attempts fail than are successful - if that focus is distracted or interrupted then the chance of failure also increases. This is why harrassing a BOP (for the purpose of this discussion) who is not in hunting mode is usually a safe tactic for smaller birds especially in numbers. This does not mean that the BOP will not lash out if the smaller birds get close enough but it appears that usually the BOP concentrates more on trying to get away to regroup rather than to retaliate in hunter mode.
I hope this helps.
Alison
~~~~~~
"the earth is not only for humans, but for all animals and living things."
hi Alison :)
thank you that explains it perfectly - i wasn't thinking along those line more along the lines of the size ratio of BOP to the Harrasser
i would imagine there is a ratio for example a goshawk couldn't take a crow but i don't know what size that ratio would be but i hadn't thought of distraction part
and your right the BOP just concentrates on getting away
thanks for making me look at it in a different way :))
Kym
Cheers, Kym
Alison
~~~~~~
"the earth is not only for humans, but for all animals and living things."