Odd Hawk Behavior

They are such intelligent birds, this is play!

i had a parakeet that loved pushing things off the dining room table and then watching them fall. some birds like to play with gravity!

I vote that this hawk was testing gravity. It works!
Thanks for the great photo.
Short film would be of interest.

When my older daughter was around five she asked me how babies were made. I told her that they were made after people did a special kind of hugging ( and gave her the anatomical details). A few months later I called her to come and see the red shouldered hawks mating at the top of our Monterey cypress tree. Her comment was "Oh mommy, do birds do it too?" !!!

Maybe he or she wants to set up a prime sitting spot to look down on prey and those joker Monkey Puzzle Tree things are only in the way. That’s my idea.

This article somewhat describes a similar behavior.
https://photocontest.smithsonianmag.com/photocontest/detail/red-tailed-hawks-at-state-line-lookout-new-jersey/

Not an ornithologist by any means, more of an observer as there are what appear several individuals here off Milpas. And it seems they are in the mating season, I wonder if it was a territorial signal to another hawk, or bird. I'm assuming that's your picture, so great shot! Another thought, but far-fetched, is cleaning its talons after a kill? Would be nice to know.

Probably just monkeying around