Frozen Junco
Walking the trail at Pheasant Branch one recent morning, I came across a Dark-eyed Junco apparently frozen out of fear. It was hunkered on a branch, holding its plumage very tightly to its body. The junco's gaze was fixed and unblinking - it didn't move a muscle. At first I thought how unusual for a junco to be so frightened of a human, but then I began to suspect it must be from some nearby predator. I wasn't more than two feet away from the junco. I spoke aloud, "What has you so terrified, little bird?" Scanning the trees, I soon found the answer. A Sharp-shinned Hawk was perched through a clearing in the branches about 30 feet away from where I was standing with the junco.
I immediately sensed a birding ethical dilemma. Thoughts raced through my mind. Has the sharpie been on this bird for a while? Am I interfering with its ability to catch prey? Should I spare the junco's life? Should I flush the sharpie or the junco? What if I flush the junco and the sharpie goes after it and nails it? I paused for a few moments. There the three of us were, human, hawk, and songbird. I wasn't sure what to do, but obviously there was an outcome.
My question for my blog readers is what would you do in this situation? Would you flush the sharpie? The junco? Would you stand there next to the junco until the sharpie flew off, or would you just quietly and quickly back away from the scene and allow nature take its course? Directly or indirectly, I was involved due to my presence between predator and prey.
Once there are a few comments to this birding ethical dilemma, I'll share the actual outcome.
© 2009 Mike McDowell
9 Comments:
This happens to me a lot. Usually, I try not to disturb anyone, but most of the time my presence disturbs the predator after a few minutes and they move on.
But there was that one time I had a junco who hit my window. I let him recover,took him outside, he flew off and landed in a tree. Seconds later a Sharpie plucked him off.
I think quietly backing away from the scene would have been my response. Certainly one has all ready disturbed the scene w/one's presence but minimizing that would be my priority.
I'd definitely try to back away slowly and let the drama play out as naturally as possible. But, as Stacy said, by happening upon the scene you've already disturbed it.
This brings up a question, of course. When would one NOT allow the situation to play out? What if it hadn't been a Sharpie but rather some non-native species? Or a feral cat? Or a kid with a bb-gun?
I wouldn't make the first move. I would try to stay still until one of them blinked. They have more practice at that, though, so I don't know how long I would last.
I say quietly back away. While we all want to help the little guy, this is part of the natural order. Maybe the junco can escape. Maybe easier prey will show up for the sharpie. Maybe, like in some dark cartoon, the junco will turn the sharpie into lunch (then again, that scenario is highly unlikely). Regardless, we're just an observer.
I'd move away and observe curiously and ever mindful that cute little vegetarians are not good guys and fierce predators are not bad guys. I'd also remind myself that species health and survival is not the same as the survival of an individual. And then the coyote I keep seeing in the corridor would jump out and bite my ankle.
Before two days ago I would have said, "Back away and let Nature take it's course!"
But I fear that given my experience of two days ago, I would have surely transgressed my declaration....
I have had a pair of doves visiting my backyard where I do tend to throw seed out often for them during the winter. And they will often settle down and slumber along the edge of my patio in the sun. They were dozing out there day before yesterday and I happened to walk to the patio door just as a Cooper's Hawk landed in the large tree behind my house. I watched for about five minutes scared to death for the doves because I had become attached to them over the winter. They were totally oblivious to the hawk's presence but he also apparently did not see the doves since they were asleep and not moving. I am sure I would have burst out onto the patio if the hawk had made a move on them.
This issue has been on my mind a lot since that episode. Leaving Nature to itself is hard, really hard some times.
I would probably proceed in the direction I had been going, checking my back trail from time to time to see what happened. Going back seems just as intrusive as remaining there or proceeding, and I always want to see what's around the next bend.
We disturb countless other, less visible, species by any action, so any particular action is subject to ethical difficulties.
If you have the patience (which as a digiscoper, I assume you do), waiting might be the most intellectually satisfying of the options, but I'm not convinced it's the most nonintrusive.
Being 30 feet away from a Sharp-shinned Hawk, I did what I think any typical birder would have done in this particular situation - I brought my binoculars up to my eyes to get a closer look at the hawk! However, the moment I did the hawk flew a short distance to another branch. When I turned around to look for the junco, it was gone - vanished. It seized the brief opportunity and left without making a detectable sound. It was at this moment I quickly and quietly walked away from the scene, so as not to cause any further manipulation.
I enjoyed reading your answers and would like to think, at least in hindsight, I would have done something similar, but veritable field birder I am, it was literally instinctive to pull my bins up to get that closer look!
Whoopth!
Mike
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