Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Cooper's Hawk

Another very cool bird sighting from the houseboat - this time it was a Cooper's hawk! At first it was hidden deep within the bushes. It was clearly looking for something as it would occasionally dive down to the ground. It's amazing they don't get hurt or at least damage their feathers flying through all those brambles.


Then it flew out into the open, making for this impressive view:


Not surprisingly, there was no bird activity at our feeders that afternoon! I've wondered a couple times in the past upon finding lots of feathers on the deck if a sharp-shinned or Cooper's hawk might have nailed something at our feeder, but this is the first time I've seen one of these hawks in the vicinity. It's a little sad to think about some of our cute juncos and sparrows getting pegged by this guy, but it's also pretty cool to have gotten such a close up look at this predator.

6 comments:

  1. Is he the sneaky chappy or lord of all he surveys? Nice pics, seen our sparrowhawks (almost identical) sneak through bushes to get closer for an ambush but never seen them low down in a thicket lookin for worms/bugs etc.

    Cheers
    Davo
    PS - Don't like tot gloat but 200 up!!! ;-) Race isn't over yet though

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  2. I love birds of prey. They are so fascinating and beautiful. Great pics!

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  3. Due to the head and lack of squareness it looks to be a Sharp Shinned Hawk.

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  4. Here's a link. I'm sure you'll agree. http://www.birds.cornell.edu/pfw/AboutBirdsandFeeding/accipiterIDtable.htm

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  5. Anonymous - Thanks for your comment. I'm actually pretty convinced it was a Cooper's using many of the features on the link you provided. It was a very large bird.

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  6. Could very well be a female sharp shinned due to the size. I'm not convinced it's a coopers. Coopers are much more blocky headed. any more photos?

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