Early one morning in Inwood Hill Park a few days ago, a Barred Owl was minding its own business in the White Pines when Blue Jays began to take notice and noisily harass it. The miffed owl then flew from its comfy pine tree to a bare deciduous tree and eventually to another pine nearby. That’s when the fierce harassment began.
Anyone who wants to find hawks or owls knows to listen for a noisy band of Blue Jays. The Blue Jays find these large birds a threat and will dive-bomb them. The jays can be aggressive and get in the bird’s immediate space. It’s not easy to watch. Crows, mockingbirds, and other birds are also known to engage in mobbing.
Recent local social media reports, especially from Central Park, confirm the prevalence of this mobbing behavior. In addition to famous Flaco the Eurasian Eagle-Owl, and Geraldine, the park’s resident Great Horned Owl, a Long-eared Owl visited there recently. Bands of Blue Jays have harassed all these owls. In Inwood Hill Park, Blue Jays will also bother the Eastern Screech-Owl that is often seen high up above the Clove path.
I witnessed this particular mobbing from a respectful distance. The zoom range of my Nikon allowed me to capture the action. Mainly, a single Blue Jay was leading the harassment, so by definition that would be several birds short of an actual mob.
I am happy to report that the incident was over within thirty minutes and the Barred Owl prevailed.
Recent posts
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A burst of spring weather and unseasonably warm days brought a variety of birds to Inwood Hill Park in Northern Manhattan this week. The three days in early March— March 9 through March 11— felt like a gift, especially after a long winter of cold temperatures and abundant snow. Many New Yorkers talked about how… Read more: An Early Spring Preview of the Birds of Inwood - The Snowiest of Snows, and a Bald Eagle Appears
On Monday, February 23, the snow fell across New York City in steady downfalls over many hours, embedded in a winter storm that arrived late afternoon on Sunday and continued well into the afternoon. By the end, Central Park experienced one of the largest snowstorms in the city’s history. * Up here in Northern Manhattan,… Read more: The Snowiest of Snows, and a Bald Eagle Appears - Blizzard Warning: A Great Blue Heron Hunkers Down, and Other Stories of the Birds of Inwood in a Cold and Snowy Month
Northern Cardinals have resumed singing their song of spring this past week, so you would never know that NYC and parts of the Tri-State area are currently under a blizzard warning. As I write, the temperatures are mild, and the sky is blue. The blizzard warning is the first such weather alert issued for NYC… Read more: Blizzard Warning: A Great Blue Heron Hunkers Down, and Other Stories of the Birds of Inwood in a Cold and Snowy Month - A Red-shouldered Hawk for Valentine’s Day
I fell in love this morning on my walk over to the Hudson River. I was walking very slowly on the sloped path leading up to the Henry Hudson Bridge. The path was a little icy, still covered with recent snow, and I was careful with every step. My intention was to see the Bald… Read more: A Red-shouldered Hawk for Valentine’s Day - The Snows of January and the Birds of Inwood
A quarrel of sparrows has descended on my fire escape each morning this January, asking for some seeds. A year or so ago, I tossed a handful of seeds out my kitchen window. They never forgot. Recently, as the snows and cold weather have descended on the city and on much of the rest of… Read more: The Snows of January and the Birds of Inwood
Birds of Inwood 
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