Hummingbird vs Falcon... Defending a nest?

[Bill Bryant]

Visible from my home office there is a 50' tall pine tree with a dead top... making for a perfect perch for hawks and other predators to scope out the valley below. Deep inside the tree there must be a hummingbird nest, as during a couple weeks of observation each time a large bird would land on top of the tree, they would get "buzzed" by hummingbirds. Quite a show! I never saw them actually make contact, but it did seem to irritate the offending hawk or falcon enough that they would move on. This only lasted 2-3 weeks, until I suspect that perhaps the baby hummingbirds had fledged the nest. The attached is technically not a very good shot, but you can clearly see a hummingbird "dive bombing" a Kestrel that had perched on the tree.

Has anyone witnessed this kind of behavior?

[Axel Hildebrandt]

I've never seen a hummingbird mobbing a kestrel but find it very interesting.

[William Malacarne]

About a month ago I had a Red Tail Hawk dive at the birds at my backyard birdfeeder. He did not catch anything but landed on a phone line in my yard. As I was watching him a hummingbird landed and perched no more than 2 feet from him. They sat there looking at each other for several seconds, maybe 30. The hummer then left and went his own way and the hawk then left also.

[david cramer]

Some of the hummers around my home have been attacking any bird that lands in the trees that they perch in. Haven't seen a kestrel or raptor, but certainly crows and jays, which are not that easy to intimidate.

[capemerlin]

A great behavioral shot Bill. I saw the same behavior this week, a hummer buzzing a kestrel. While banding raptors in NJ I see many kinds of really cool sights.
Arthur Nelson

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

I sometimes note smaller birds mobbing larger, mostly predatory species in my neck of the woods. :) It appears to be quite normal for the little ones to be rather protective of their nest/offspring!