Well, an interesting event occurred today while leaving the Point Edward arena parking lot after hockey. Just as I was loading my gear into the back of the pickup a Coopers Hawk flew past only about ten feet off the ground carrying a bird and landed in a nearby tree. Meanwhile two Peregrine Falcons were hot on its tail and continued to dive at the Cooper’s.
Eventually the Peregrines left and the Cooper’s started on its meal. Since the Cooper’s had come from the Bluewater Bridge and the Peregrines were severely agitated, I’m wondering if its meal was indeed a young falcon. I managed to get a okay shot as the lighting was very poor and the sight line extremely difficult.
The Cooper’s Hawk is a medium-sized hawk with the classic accipiter shape: broad, rounded wings and a very long tail.
Cooper’s Hawks fly with a flap-flap-glide pattern typical of accipiters. Even when crossing large open areas they rarely flap continuously.
Another attack maneuver is to fly fast and low to the ground, then up and over an obstruction to surprise prey on the other side.
Find them in wooded habitats from deep forests to leafy subdivisions and backyards. Cornell All About Birds
Cooper’s Hawks are a medium-sized hawk with the classic accipiter shape: broad, rounded wings and a very long tail. In Cooper’s Hawks, the head often appears large, the shoulders broad, and the tail rounded.
Adults are steely blue-gray above with warm reddish bars on the underparts and thick dark bands on the tail. Juveniles are brown above and crisply streaked with brown on the upper breast, giving them a somewhat hooded look compared with young Sharp-shinned Hawks' more diffuse streaking. Cornell All About Birds
