This is Bird Note.

A pint-sized, northern Pigmeowl, not much bigger than a pine cone, hoots from a northwest

tree top on a winter morning.

Before long, this roofish brown diurnal owl, a determined predator of small birds and

mammals, attracts a crowd.

Aggravated and scolding like mad, a dozen or more small birds dart back and forth above

and below the owl.

Chickadees, kinglets, nut hatches, and a downy woodpecker all join the fracas.

The owl appears stoic, seeming to ignore this tumultuous rally that ornithologists call

mobbing.

You might wonder.

I would birds that this aggressive owl regularly eats, dare to risk themselves by coming within

inches of the predator's talons.

Scientists believe mobbing to be a collective response to danger, but it's not certain if

the mobbers hope to drive the predator off or simply draw attention to the threat.

Locally nesting and resident birds are more likely to mob, perhaps because they have

more at stake than passing migrants.