What on earth is going on here? These two male kestrels were
filmed on 15 June at Cohen's Field. We think this is some kind of
battle of dominance, although we are not certain. Are they both
adult males? Maybe one is a fledged bird being told in no uncertain
terms that he should expect to remain quite low in the pecking
order? We are not certain.
What is certain is that this was an extraordinary insight into
bird behaviour played out literally inches from a main path on
Hampstead Heath, passed all the time by joggers and walkers. We
should stress that there was no direct physical violence and the
only thing hurt was the pride of the submissive bird.