Kestrell

The red-tailed hawk chicks are fledging
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/cams/red-tailed-hawks/?utm_source=Cornell%20Lab%20eNews&utm_campaign=d5ed4657b0-Cornell-Lab-eNews-June-2022&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_47588b5758-d5ed4657b0-346582837

and earlier this week, a curious red-tailed hawk chick caome in for a close-up
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8Yf4XCjkSg

And don't forget about the smaller but often gravity-defying
American kestrels
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0X0PaWyQEG0
(okay, so those youngsters are going to have to work up to that gravity-defying hovering thing...)

No big surprise but another reminder that diversity doesn't equal inferiority: making assumptions based on surface appearance really just makes an ass of you.
https://scitechdaily.com/bird-brains-are-surprisingly-complex-extraordinary-cognitive-performance/

Warning: this link interfered with my screen reader for a few moments--I think it must be feeling spinny, too.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2100204/In-spin-Kestrel-uses-novel-way-shake-drips-afternoon-soaking.html

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/The-Hawks-in-Your-Backyard.html

block quote start
“Man, I hate watching him do this,” Stewart mutters. Most people, he says (his tone implies he means most “sane” people), would use a climbing lanyard or some other safety device should they, say, get thumped on the head by an irate Cooper’s hawk and lose their grip and fall. “But not Bob.”
block quote end