[KCFoggin]

This Sharpie (I think) looks like it has seen better days. Is this just normal wear and tear which happens in time and something I haven't seen before or do you suppose it was in a scuffle?

[Carson]

Wow! I guess this youngster has some stories to tell! No, the ripped feathers at the end represent a definitely bad hair day for this guy. On the other hand, you might say it's "normal" for a hawk to get beat up on occasion, as it is for a cat. And he's [she's] just a kid. I'm of the scuffle supposition. Accipiters play rough, and maybe there was some dispute over who was prey and who was predator. The feathers aren't worn; they're torn. Kind of looks like somebody suggested he stay when he really didn't want to, don't you think?

[KCFoggin]

Hi Carson. I guess I naively thought that this kind of feather damage was reserved for their prey and not themselves.

[esmondb]

If they're anything like our sparrowhawks in the UK, they will quite happily throw themselves into hedges and the like in pursuit of prey.
They have been known to knock themselves out flying in windows etc. while in hot pursuit.

[Carson]

Sure, they MUST make mistakes sometimes. Once a bird-bander/-ringer at Pt Pelee showed me how incredibly accipiters can fly, by releasing a Sharpie from a tube, in the manner of lightly throwing a dart. But--he was standing a arm's length from an impenetrable wall if thickets at the time. The hawk had a foot or two to comprehend the situation, yet it ACCELERATED and flipped its body sideways, one wingtip up and the other down, while it vanished in a second into that thick maze of stems and branches.

Had I not seen it with my own eyes, I could not have believed it. Absolutely amazing. I felt a shudder go through me regarding the natural prey of that bird. No songbird could even begin to fly like that. No swallow could turn so quickly.

So, maybe our friend was just learning the trade. But he ain't talkin', is he?

[Katy Penland]

We have a "resident" sharp-shinned in our yard, and it's absolutely mind-boggling to watch him (her?) go after a bird. Like you guys have said, literally crashing through the pine trees and junipers like they weren't there. One time he did what looked like a cartwheel pivot, one wingtip touching the ground as he did a 180 to chase down a bird just taking off. So fast you almost don't believe you're seeing what you see. Wow! Wish I had a video surveillance camera on the yard at all times.