From Calvin Schnure
Compare the photo on the left vs right.
The two photos are of the same bird, a Northern hawk-owl, taken within an hour of each other. What’s going on? The hawk-owl owl normally looks a bit plump, with an oval-shaped body. But if a predator is nearby (I saw a Rough-winged hawk soaring earlier in the afternoon) they sit up straight and tall and try to look thin.
Presumably this makes them less obvious (does it think it looks like a stick?) or less appetizing to the predator.
Northern hawk-owl
Sax-Zim Bog
March 3, 2025
From doing some more reading, the harriers are a little larger, but the shorty is more maneuverable. I didn’t come across anything where they actually try to hurt each other, it’s mainly to drive the other off or for the harrier to take the owl’s dinner. The shorties seem to have more success hunting, and the harriers take advantage of that.
Otherwise, they just have too much in common with each other and it makes them fight for resources. At least the shorties are migratory and can leave.
I can’t see if the outcome of this video was provided in the original video post. It’s on Instagram and someone asked who won, and it shows 2 replies, but I cant see them without an account. The link I gave you was my Vimeo I made to share videos here from sites that require a login, so I just rehosted it.
I also don’t have an Instagram account, I guess we’ll never know.
Good to know that they don’t actually go for kill.