this post was submitted on 23 Feb 2024
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Photo by Baba-Vulic Aleksandar

A northern harrier catches up to a short-earred owl, knocks the small rodent (vole) she was carrying out of her grasp, and catches it's rapidly descending prize before it meets the ground. Harrier has been known to steal a vole froma short- eared owl in mid-air. This is an example of kleptoparasitism, which is when one bird steals another's food.

That vole can't catch a break! ๐Ÿ˜ฎ

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[โ€“] [email protected] 3 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

Yeah they call that behavior "mobbing". You can actually use this to spot owls in the wild!