Camera Critters #165

One afternoon, while sitting on my mother’s patio, watching the birds feed on the little hillside in front of me, I saw something I had never seen before.

It began with a pair of male and female Brown-headed Cowbirds, who were feeding on the seeds in the area.

Suddenly, another male cowbird swooped in and attacked the first male. I had seen birds fight before and it was generally an attack, retreat and maybe a couple of other attacks. But this one was different. It was like Friday Night Fights right in front of me! These two birds went at it, rolling in the dirt and grass of the hillside, not making a sound, but clasped onto each other with the feet, pecking and flapping their wings. It looked the world like a fight to the death.

I watched these two fight, no more than 20 feet away from me. They rolled down the hillside to a short wall along a sidewalk, with both of them falling to the cement walkway below, still fighting and still going at each other after the fall.

At this point the pair were less than 10 feet from me.

They continued to fight and roll across the sidewalk away from me until they finally split up and went their separate ways.

In all, the pair fought for a good five minutes or six minutes. I was blown away by what was happening. It was absolutely amazing.

Misty Dawn’s Camera Critter Meme is a great way see critters the world over. Go to the homepage here to see more. Then join the fun and add your own.