I really enjoy capturing action sequences of the interaction between creatures in the wild. It’s not easy sometimes to explain the behavior that I observe, but often it seems that many wild creatures have a sense of territoriality and will fiercely defend their space against all encroachers.
That seems to have been the case on Thanksgiving Day when I observed two Blue Jays (Cyanocitta cristata) harassing a Merlin (Falco columbarius) at Huntley Meadows Park in Northern Virginia. I have seen blackbirds and crows in the past harassing eagles and hawks and have been shocked to see how much smaller the aggressors were than the birds they were chasing. In this case, however, the blue jays and the merlin appeared to be about the same size.
The blue jays appeared to be using a variety of techniques. The two shots below show one of the blue jays buzzing the merlin, flying surprising close to the little falcon.
The next three shots show a concerted effort to crow the merlin. Initially the blue jays positioned themselves on opposite sides of the merlin. Then one of the blue jays moved closer, to a position almost directly below the merlin. In the final shot, the merlin exploded into the air and one of the blue jays simultaneously took off to chase after the merlin.
I took these shots from quite a distance away and still had to crop them a lot, but I think the images still manage to show some pretty fascinating behavior that I was privileged to observe and document.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
These are great shots, Mike. I’ve seen little birds chase away and harass bigger ones but I’ve never been quick enough to capture any of the action. Blue Jays can be nasty. My friend used to have two beagles. One got too close to the tree in which the blue jays had a nest, and the bird attached him – flew down and pecked his head!
I didn’t know there is a bird called a Merlin. Now I’m wondering if Merlin the Magician was named after it — makes a certain sense. Or, maybe the bird was named after a magician!
That’s a fascinating question, so I did a little research on-line. According to one source, “The name “Merlin” comes from esmerillon, the old French name for the species.” Wikipedia says that the name of Merlin the wizard, ” is derived from the Welsh Myrddin, the name of the bard Myrddin Wyllt, one of the chief sources for the later legendary figure. Geoffrey of Monmouth Latinised the name to Merlinus in his works.”
The American Heritage Dictionary adds that Old French esmerillon was the diminutive of esmeril, which was of Germanic origin. I see that the modern German word for this bird is also Merlin.
That’s really interesting, Mike. Thanks for looking it up — I had to get out of the house so fast this morning I didn’t have time, myself. It’s always interesting to track down how these names came to be.
So interesting to watch the behaviour through your lens and commentary
Thanks, Diana. I try to express myself equally through my photos and my words. In many ways. my blog gives viewers a pretty accurate sense of who I am and how I view the world.
Good for you for having been able to document this behavior. I’m not a bird watcher but I’ve occasionally seen a blue jay dive-bomb a squirrel.
Thanks, Steve. Normally I would have been focusing on my primary subject, the merlin, but I was so far away that I was able to see and capture the “big picture,” which in this case included the pesky blue jays.
I’ve seen all-out war happen between a New Zealand falcon and a pair of herons, in the form of aerial combat. It happened right by our last house, and it was so noisy that Nigel came out of his office to see what was going on. I was already out there, and we just stood there astonished and enjoyed all the drama!
Wow. That definitely must have been awesome to witness.
We have a Merlin coming every morning when the blue jays have their peanut eating time. He is trying over and over to kill a blue jay, but as far as I can tell — with no success. He is relentless though. I wonder if other have seen the same.
I have not had a chance to see a merlin in action very often. I know that hey target songbirds, but don’t know if a merlin would consider a blue jay to be a good meal.