Here's a fearless little blackbird hitching a ride on a hawk

We don't think it's actually possible to outdo the infamous woodpecker-riding weasel, but the contenders just keep turning up. Crows on eagles, genets on rhinos, raccoons on crocs ... and now a small but fearless blackbird hitching a ride on a red-tailed hawk.

"We see territorial blackbirds (among others) dive-bombing raptors, but this is definitely something you don't see every day," wrote the US Department of the Interior when posting the lucky snapshot to Instagram.

This latest avian hitchhiker, a red-winged blackbird, was caught on camera by photographer Mike White on a visit to the DeSoto and Boyer Chute National Wildlife Refuge in Nebraska and Iowa.

Image: Mike White/Instagram/@usinterior

Top header image: Paul Malinowski, Flickr

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