Image: “American Crow Mobbing Red-Tailed Hawk,” adapted from Image: “American Crow Mobbing Red-Tailed Hawk, Santa Barbara, California,” by Channel City Camera Club, 13 April 2021, in Wikimedia Commons … https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:American_Crow_mobbing_Red-tailed_Hawk,_Santa_Barbara,_California_%2851114795558%29.jpg ..
Image: “American Crow Mobbing Red-Tailed Hawk,” adapted from Image: “American Crow Mobbing Red-Tailed Hawk, Santa Barbara, California,” by Channel City Camera Club, 13 April 2021, in Wikimedia Commons … https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:American_Crow_mobbing_Red-tailed_Hawk,_Santa_Barbara,_California_%2851114795558%29.jpg ..
- INTRODUCTION
- WHY DO RAVENS AND HAWKS LIVE CLOSE TOEGETHER IN THE LOS ANGELES AREA?
- DIVING DEEPER
- CONCLUSION
INTRODUCTION
Dear Ones,
Why do Ravens and Hawks live close together in the Los Angeles area? The answer is below …
Alice’s words are in ochre.
WHY DO RAVENS AND HAWKS LIVE CLOSE TOGETHER IN THE LOS ANGELES AREA?
I asked Google AI: Why do Ravens and Hawks live close together in the Los Angeles area?
Google AI said: Ravens and hawks (particularly Red-tailed and Red-shouldered hawks) live in close proximity in the Los Angeles area because the urban landscape offers an abundance of shared resources—specifically nesting sites and food—that support both species, despite their frequent territorial disputes. Their coexistence is characterized by high-speed “mobbing” (harassment) by ravens, which hawks generally tolerate as part of their urban existence.
Reasons for Coexistence in Los Angeles:
- Abundant, Shared Resources: The urban-wildland interface of Los Angeles provides a perfect mix of food and shelter for both species. Both birds are opportunistic hunters and scavengers, taking advantage of prey in open spaces, greenbelts, and residential areas, as well as food refuse.
- Ideal Nesting Structures: While traditionally nesting in trees or on cliffs, ravens and hawks in Los Angeles have adapted to use man-made structures—such as power-line towers, telephone poles, billboards, and bridges—which offer safe, elevated nesting locations.
- High Food Availability: The presence of small mammals (squirrels, rabbits) that hawks hunt, along with human-generated waste (carrion, garbage) which both species scavenge, allows high population densities in close quarters.
Sacramento Audubon Society +4
The Dynamics of “Hawk Wars” and Coexistence:
- Mobbing and Harassment: Ravens are highly territorial and intelligent. They frequently “mob” (dive-bomb and chase) hawks to drive them away from nesting areas.
- “Respectful” Tension: Despite the harassment, hawks often treat the noisy ravens as a nuisance rather than a threat, acting like “royalty being annoyed by paparazzi”.
- Shared Foraging: On occasion, ravens have been observed waiting for hawks to make a kill (like a squirrel) and then picking up the leftover scraps, indicating a complex relationship where they may even exploit the same prey.
Ultimately, the rich, man-made environment of Los Angeles provides enough resources for both birds to thrive, forcing them into a tense but sustainable partnership.
DIVING DEEPER
Google AI said: Ravens and hawks live in close proximity in the Los Angeles area primarily because they share similar urban habitat needs—such as tall trees and structures for nesting—while engaging in a complex, often adversarial relationship driven by competition and scavenging.
Friends of Griffith Park | +4
Their coexistence is defined by several key behavioral and environmental factors:
- Shared Nesting Sites: Both species utilize high vantage points for nesting, including large residential trees, cliff ledges, and man-made structures like buildings in downtown Los Angeles.
- Territorial Disputes (Mobbing): Ravens are highly territorial and frequently “mob” hawks to drive them away from their nests and young. This behavior, often seen as “aerial dogfights” over landmarks like the Natural History Museum or USC, is a defensive strategy to protect raven hatchlings from potential predation by hawks.
- Scavenging Opportunities: Ravens often follow hawks to scavenge scraps from their kills. They have been observed waiting nearby while a hawk feeds on a rodent, sometimes even harassing the hawk until it relinquishes its meal.
- Urban Adaptation: Los Angeles provides abundant food sources (such as trash for ravens and pigeons or rodents for hawks) that allow both populations to thrive in the same dense urban core.
- Environmental Features: Certain infrastructure, such as powerlines and highways, attract both species; powerlines provide superior perching and nesting sites, while highways offer “automobile-generated carrion”.
Friends of Griffith Park | +11
While their interactions are often hostile, they are a routine part of the urban ecosystem where both species have adapted to tolerate one another’s presence as a “routine hazard”.
[…]
Would you like to know more about which specific species of hawks are most common in Los Angeles neighborhoods?
I liked and closed the thread.
CONCLUSION
Well, now we know.
God bless you all,
And keep you safe,
And be with you
Through all your days.
In love, light and joy
This is Alice B. Clagett.
I Am of the Stars … and so are you!
Compiled and published on 19 March 2026
MORE INFORMATION
I left the double quotes off of the beginning and end of Google AI’s response, and kept the double quotes as is within the responses. You will know by the light blue font that these are quotes from Google AI.
If you see purple font, that is being used for a term described in “More Information.”
I am using brown font for my questions in the Q&A. Also, through sparing use of square brackets and brown font, I sometimes change the transcript slightly or add my Comments to it.
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0). Attribution: By Alice B. Clagett.
More license information
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AI collaborations, prophecy, hawks, ravens, nature, birds,
