Tony's Takes Photography

Wildlife, landscape and weather photography

Western kingbird takes on a Swainson’s hawk

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Western kingbird takes on a Swainson’s hawk
A western kingbird chases after a Swainson’s hawk. (© Tony’s Takes)

A little bird with a ton of attitude!

Western kingbirds are notorious for their aggressiveness toward much bigger raptors. These bullies will take on any hawk or eagle that they feel is intruding on their space and this one, clearly, was not happy with the hawk’s presence.

The hawk was perched on a pole, enjoying a calm morning on the Great Plains when the kingbird decided to attack. After making multiple dives at the perched hawk, the hawk decided it had enough and departed. That wasn’t good enough for the kingbird who gave pursuit, raising a ruckus and taking swipes at the Swainson.

I’ve seen kingbirds do this to other hawks and even much larger bald eagles, they simply have no fear.

A western kingbird chases after a Swainson's hawk. (© Tony's Takes)
A western kingbird chases after a Swainson’s hawk. (© Tony’s Takes)
A western kingbird chases after a Swainson's hawk. (© Tony's Takes)
A western kingbird chases after a Swainson’s hawk. (© Tony’s Takes)

America’s symbol gets no respect

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Being arguably the most regal bird on the face of the planet and the symbol of the greatest nation is no doubt a source of great pride for Bald Eagles. However, sometimes even these majestic creatures find themselves under siege by smaller creatures.

This one found itself continually being pestered by a couple of Western Kingbirds that clearly didn’t care about the raptor’s stature or bigger size. Here, one of the little ones takes a swipe right at the bigger bird.

I watched this activity for more than a half hour and more than once though the Kingbird managed to land a hit on the Eagle. Nevertheless, the Eagle paid them virtually no attention treating them no different than a fly. You sure would think it would snatch one of them out of the air and punish it for its audacity. 😉

A Western Kingbird dives at a Bald Eagle in Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)
A Western Kingbird dives at a Bald Eagle in Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)

Eastern Kingbird gets a closeup

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I happened across this cute little one and surprisingly enough, it let me walk right up and take a bunch of pictures.

These little birds, and their western cousins, are big time bullies. They are absolutely fearless about confronting raptors that they feel might be a threat or are intruding on their territory. I’ve seen them go after everything from hawks to eagles. It is pretty amusing to watch but it might not be the brightest thing to provoke those big birds. 😉

A watchful Eastern Kingbird in Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)
A watchful Eastern Kingbird in Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)
An Eastern Kingbird preens itself in Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)
An Eastern Kingbird preens itself in Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)
An Eastern Kingbird in Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)
An Eastern Kingbird in Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)

Western Kingbird in flight

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Little birds are hard to catch in flight as they move so darned fast. Strong winds one day last week had this guy struggling and slowed him down enough to let me get a picture.

The Western Kingbird is common across much of the western United States in the summer. These colorful little birds can be quite aggressive and are known to even chase after raptors. I actually have a pretty cool sequence from last week of one chasing a bald eagle I will share later.

To learn more about this bird, see here.

Western Kingbird in flight. (© Tony’s Takes)
Western Kingbird in flight. (© Tony’s Takes)