On this mild, sunny afternoon along the Front Range, I elected to sit outdoors and enjoy the pleasant weather; after all, snow is expected to arrive overnight. Soon after settling in my chair, I heard the raucous call of a common raven and scanned the sky to locate its source.
But I initially caught sight of a pair of red-tailed hawks, lazily circling above our Littleton farm. Their peaceful flight was soon disrupted by the raven and his partner, both of which started dive-bombing the buteos. Whatever the reason for their attack, the more agile ravens had a distinct advantage; they initially harassed both red-tails but eventually settled on one. As the freed hawk escaped to the north, the unlucky victim and his tormenters drifted to the south, soon disappearing behind a grove of trees.
Like other corvids, common ravens are highly intelligent birds that are aggressive by nature; I doubt that their attack was merely an instinctive defense maneuver. Rather, bullies that they are, it is more likely that they chose to take advantage of their intelligence and flight skills to harass and impress their larger "rival."
