Tis the season for copulation.
Note how the male’s talons are bunched up. He can’t, after all, grab hold of her back with those sharp claws. 
I noticed this in an Instragramer’s photo of mating Osprey recently, where the scale was rather larger but the principle the same.
Bird mating is brief. The balancing act — flying in place essentially — and the fact that he can’t claw her are most conducive to making the process fast. Also, considering the high frequency of matings, are there a lot near misses for the requisite cloacal contact? 
Backyard and Beyond 
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