Bird gangs

This evening, while Tim and I were walking in the neighborhood in the cool of the evening, I spotted a large bird hanging out on the lawn across the street. We crossed the street for a closer look, and the bird spread its wings and flew up to a clearly visible branch on a close tree. Then we noticed the angry twitter of birds in the trees around and watched them mob the large bird, taking turns to swoop around and generally pester him into leaving again. Tim has told me about watching smaller bird gang up against a hawk that flies outside his office window at work, but I'd never seen this behavior before.

When we got home, with the aid of a field guide and the Internet, I identified the bird as the American Kestrel, also known as a "Sparrow Hawk" because it eats House Sparrows. Unlike other falcons, it captures its prey on the ground, which perhaps explains why it was hanging out on the grass. But we didn't notice the birds swooping at it until it went into a tree, so perhaps it was just down there for a little peace.