Coopers Hawks

I’ve seen the hawks in our neighborhood more often lately. At first glance and moderate distance I always assume they are red-tailed hawks, just because red-tails are the most common. With the wide open areas of the former naval air station runways nearby, it’s good red-tail habitat.

And then I noticed the body shape, long and lanky, with short wings, and I realized it’s a sharpy or a Cooper’s.   

I got a chance to check them out on the utility wires in front of our house, and  then in the park across the street; pretty cool to see woodlands accipters here. Females are often much larger than males, and the difference in size between the two birds was dramatic. 

I’ve always heard sharp-shinned are more common, so I assumed that’s what I’m seeing.  A month or so ago I was walking along in the naval air station with another dogwalker and we saw a slender hawk in the distance grab a small bird, it’s parent or partner squawking after the snatch, trailing along behind in futile pursuit.  “Life in the food chain,” my friend commented.

I’ve noticed them infrequently ever since, and this morning out on the former naval air station a hawk surprised me, swooping up behind us as Edie was trotting along in front of me.  The hawk came right up behind her,  so direct that she traced a trail right above Edie’s spine, not more than 10 feet above.

Accipters like to catch small birds—was she hoping Edi might flush something into her easy grasp?

The bird lighted on a poplar ahead of us, one of a row. So I got a chance to walk forward, and get a better guess a to its size. The hawk was easily longer than my fingertips to my elbow, but not longer than my whole arm. Checking the field guides when I got home, I now think it’s the less-common Cooper’s Hawk, not a sharp-shinned.

Especially when I read that Cooper’s hawks are more common in suburban areas.  Pretty cool to see birds like this, not so common in my childhood, doing well now, and moving this far into urban areas.

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