Ken Rohling has been photographing wildlife since he was six years old, and he has gone out to shoot practically every day since then.
However, he lately witnessed some odd animal behavior that he will remember for years.
Rohling saw an osprey perched on a cable on top of a telephone pole while visiting Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive in Orlando, Florida. The osprey had a fish in his claw, and he appeared determined to finish it.
The osprey had no idea, however, that he’d wandered into the domain of a little but obnoxious red-winged blackbird.
“A pair of red-winged blackbirds were sitting nearby and began diving-bombing him,” Rohling told The Dodo. “He had to be near their nest; they’re really territorial.”
Red-winged blackbirds aren’t scared to take on any huge bird that flies into their territory, and they’ll use whatever method at their disposal to chase them away. Usually, this entails the blackbird being as obnoxious as possible.
“One took a couple scraping runs past him, but the other one — the bird tried to pluck a feather out of his back hundreds of times,” Rohling recalled. “The osprey squawked and fluttered his wings, but he tried as hard as he could to ignore them.”
When plucking the osprey’s feathers failed, the blackbird began landing on his wings and back, riding him like a surfer.
While red-winged blackbirds aren’t threatened by ospreys, the bossy little birds have been seen riding bald eagles and red-tailed hawks.
The osprey became weary of offering piggyback rides after approximately 15 minutes and flew away.
The blackbirds returned triumphant to their nest, unconcerned that they had ruined the osprey’s meal.
0 Comments