We had a visit from a gorgeous Cooper’s Hawk (Accipiter cooperii) a couple of days ago. Joyce noticed it sitting on a branch in what would seem to be a strategic location for a creature that mainly preys on small birds. It was pierced only about six or eight feet above the area where we normally feed birds.
This is an immature individual. The vertical brown streaks on its breast will become horizontal cinnamon red when the bird molts into adult plumage. Also, adults have a very red eye, while immatures have yellow eyes.
Coopoer’s Hawks are beautiful creatures. They have relatively short wings and a long tail. These serve them well when flying through thick cover in pursuit of a fleeing prey item. Charles Lucien Bonaparte named it after his friend William Cooper, who was also an ornithologist. Other names for this bird include Big Blue Darter, Chicken Hawk, Swift Hawk, and Sttriker.
After perching for a while and scanning the area beneath it perch, the hawk dropped to the ground in an apparent attempt to capture a squirrel which had been eating the bird seed on the ground..
However, the hawk failed in its attempt to capture something. It then sat on the ground for several minutes before it flew away into the forest.
The bird flew back onto a low branch and then, after a few minutes, off into the forest.