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An international team of scientists researched the complex relationship to unearth relationship secrets between the black-chinned hummingbirds, northern goshawks, and Cooper's hawks. They set up shop at the Southwest Research Station, in the Chiricahua Mountains, located in southeastern Arizona to study 342 hummingbird nests. The "trait-mediated trophic cascade" phenomenon first published in the Science Advances journal reveals that hummers cluster their nests beneath hawks, with only 20% brave enough to not build their nests in the immediate vicinity of raptor nests. The study also revealed that the tiny species has a higher chance of reproductive success if the area serves as a hawk's home, too.
The heightened success can be attributed to a "jay-free cone," colloquially dubbed as the "cone of protection". To elaborate, hawks are known to hunt their prey from above and grab them in their powerful talons before flying away and making a snack of them. Since hummers nest beneath hawk nests to remain protected, jays have to adapt and fly above a raptor's nest to avoid becoming its meal of the day, effectively avoiding hummingbird nests in the process. In fact, hummer nests lying in the cone of safety (extending to about 170 meters wide) had a 31% daily survival rate as compared to 6% for the ones outside. Proximity matters, too. The closer the raptor nest; better the protection hummingbirds enjoy.
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