Wildlife Watching Wednesday: Backyard Cooper’s Hawks
By: Tom Berg
One of the most common hawks seen by backyard birders in the continental US is the Cooper’s hawk. The reason is simple: Cooper’s hawks are bird-eaters, and they are attracted to backyard bird feeders. Although they may eat the occasional mouse or squirrel, their main diet consists of smaller birds like sparrows, robins, blue jays, mourning doves, starlings and others.
Many homeowners erect bird feeders in their back yards to attract songbirds, and the smaller birds attract hungry Cooper’s hawks. These speedy, medium-sized hawks catch their prey while flying, so they must be quick and extremely agile. They fly at amazing speeds through thick foliage, and sometimes pick-off an unsuspecting bird as it sits on a tree branch or right on the bird feeder itself. When the hawk catches a bird, it quickly kills it by squeezing it with its strong talons.
Although Cooper’s hawks are superb fliers and navigate high speed flights through the trees, they sometimes accidentally crash into a stout tree branch or other obstruction. One scientific study of Cooper’s Hawk skeletons showed that nearly a quarter of them had old, healed-over bone fractures in their chest. So these birds are not only fast, they are tough, too!
The average size of a Cooper’s hawk is 15-20 inches long with a wingspan of 24-36 inches. They have broad, rounded wings which help them maneuver in flight. Adults are slate gray on their back and wings with reddish bars on their chest. Their long, rounded tail has distinct brown and black bands (as seen from above) with white tips. Juveniles have brown backs and wings with brown-streaked chests.
Cooper’s hawks are at home in dense forests and in backyards with plenty of trees. If you have bird feeders in your yard, chances are good that you will eventually see a Cooper’s hawk patrolling the area for an easy meal. If you don’t want to see any of your backyard birds become the hawk’s dinner, just remove your feeders for a few days and the Cooper’s hawk will likely move on.
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