This Hawk Climbs Trees For Some Reason

From Bizarre Beasts.

Be kind to yourself this year. Using Zocdoc is free – visit our sponsor https://zocdoc.com/BIZARREBEASTS to find and instantly book an appointment with a top-rated, in-network doctor today!

Today’s beast flies, hangs upside down, eats fruit, and… it’s a raptor! The African harrier-hawk doesn’t seem to fit our ideas of what a typical bird of prey is, but… What is a bird of prey, anyway?

Subscribe to the pin club here: https://complexly.store/products/bizarre-beasts-pin-subscription
This month’s pin is designed by Erica Williams. You can find out more about them and their work here: https://ericawilliamsillustration.com/

You can cancel any time by emailing hello@dftba.com

Follow us on socials:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bizarrebeastsshow/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BizarreBeastsShow/
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/bizarrebeastsshow.bsky.social
#BizarreBeasts #africanharrierhawk
—–
Sources:
https://raptor.umn.edu/about-raptors/learn-about-raptors
https://www.worldbookonline.com/advanced/article?id=ar752148
https://archive.org/details/raptorsofworld0000ferg/page/474/mode/2up
https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/afhhaw1/cur/introduction
https://eprints.federalpolyilaro.edu.ng/432/
https://web.archive.org/web/20131103175811/http://www.biodiversityexplorer.org/birds/accipitridae/polyboroides_typus.htm

Raptors 101: The 5 Features That Define Birds of Prey


https://www.bio.fsu.edu/~steppan/Holliday_and_Steppan.pdf
https://www.mdpi.com/2673-6004/2/4/25
https://www.audubon.org/magazine/red-shouldered-hawks-taste-avocado-join-growing-list-of-fruit-eating-raptors
https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms11250
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.2989/00306525.2017.1291540
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00306525.1981.9633580

What’s going on when I see little birds going after a big bird?


https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1474-919X.1978.tb06773.x
https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(23)01232-0
https://doi.org/10.3356/0892-1016-53.4.419
https://crc.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/what-raptor
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0007999
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2699.2011.02650.x
https://peregrinefund.org/explore-raptors-species/hawks/african-harrier-hawk
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1055790305001363
https://www.npr.org/2025/10/08/nx-s1-5563776/pumpkin-word-origin-history
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1095643305003648
——
Images:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1FDsGqu-oDustEi1jkDwyaVdSINDBAP4RbnuHynPVoBo/edit?tab=t.0https://complexly.store/products/bizarre-beasts-pin-subscription