DENVER -- A Westminster man's photo of an unlikely hitchhiker on a hawk is getting worldwide attention this week, as newspapers as far away as China published it.

Pat Gaines took the photo at Bonny Lake State Park in June and posted it on his Flickr site and then the Colorado Birder social networking site. The photo shows a western kingbird riding on the back of a red-tailed hawk.

Gaines said the kingbird wasn't a friendly hitchhiker and that the kingbird might have felt the hawk was intruding on its space.

"I've never seen red-tail hawks harassed so much. The hawks I saw were constantly being chased by a variety of smaller birds," he said. "This kingbird perched between the wings on the hawk's back for several seconds, and pecked at its head as the hawk flew away screaming."

Gaines, who enjoys birdwatching, said red-tail hawks have a piercing, iconic scream. That's what caused him to focus his camera lens in that direction.

"It is common to see smaller, faster birds dive-bombing and harassing hawks, but this is the first time I've seen one ridden bareback," he said.

Gaines said the kingbird pecked at the hawk's head as it rode on its back for about 25 yards.

A member of the flycatcher family, the kingbird is known for defending its nest area very aggressively, pluckily driving off unwanted intruders, including hawks.

Gaines' photo starting making the rounds and has been published in newspapers from the UK, Hungary, Turkey, Vietnam and China.

"It's my first brush with fame," he told 7News. "It's been fun. It's exciting."