White-tailed Kite and White-tailed Hawk 2016-11-27

On my drive back from Port Aransas to Austin this morning, about 4 miles north of Goliad on Highway 183 I spotted a White-tailed Kite perched on a wire on the east side of the road. I don't get to see this striking south Texas bird very often so after I'd passed it I pulled over and turned around, hoping for another look and some photos.

The bird was still there when I returned. I got a few photos from the other side of the road and then drove a little further south, turned around again, and approached it with the sun behind me. I stopped and got out of the car, going behind the car to keep it between me and the bird, and took a few more photos. I decided to try approaching the bird closer on foot, but as soon as I got away from the car the bird took flight. It circled around over me and I took some in-flight photos.

As I was watching the flying kite, I saw that another bird was approaching from the northwest. It turned out to be another south Texas specialty, a White-tailed Hawk! I took some in-flight photos of the hawk and then, almost right over my head, the kite attacked it! Both birds were vocalizing and I got a few more in-flight photos of the kite making a pass at the hawk, and then escorting it off to the southwest.

Here's my complete photo sequence on Flickr:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikael_behrens/albums/72157673144967944

Here's my favorite:

I kept more photos of the flying White-tailed Hawk than I normally would have because you can see its head turning as it sees the approach of the kite.

Interestingly, this was 10-15 miles south of where I observed a White-tailed Kite on the same drive back in February 2015: http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/1254570

Posted on 27 November, 2016 22:08 by mikaelb