While looking out front door of house I could see a game pullet (~8 months post-hatch) walking slowly with tail erect and head held high. The back part of her hackles stood out a bit as well. She was making vocalizations I could not hear. It was evident she was looking at some sort of bird, but at first it was not evident to me even though she was quite close to it. She was walking slowly doing her display when she gave her targets position to me by how she held her head to look at it. About 15 feet above her on power line was a I small raptor I initially took to be an American Kestrel. Typically the games do not pay much attention to perching kestrels. When the raptor flushed by the pullets approach I could see it was a Sharp-shinned Hawk. The Sharp-shinned Hawk, even a female, is not threat to my game hens. How the hen postured and moved is something I would like to take pictures and video of. It is interesting how the pullet distinguished the hawk from a kestrel even though the hawk involved is not a threat. It does look a lot like the larger Coopers Hawk which the pullet would likely treat in a similar manner. The Coopers Hawk can be a threat if chicken small or does not stand its ground.
