Immature Cooper's Hawk
The Lord of Leisure1 Photo Gallery
Lord of Leisure writes:
The subject of these photos is a Cooper’s Hawk that has been hanging around our bird feeder this winter. By all reports, Cooper’s Hawks are becoming more comfortable in suburban areas where they find easy prey around feeders.
The Cooper’s Hawk in the photo previously published at Heck Of A Guy (see Cooper’s Hawk Completes Raptor Trio) was a mature bird while today’s photos show a first year bird with the characteristic striped plumage of the breast and the mottled back. It is possible this is the offspring of the previous bird.
It is difficult to distinguish sex by appearance, but the female tends to be larger than the male.
Their favorite prey in our neighborhood are Mourning Doves , but they may go after any kind of bird smaller than they are. Notice it is standing on one foot. I don’t know whether this is common behavior or not.
I shot these pictures through a double paned bedroom window, but they turned out well nonetheless.
- Lord of Leisure was previously known in these posts as Mr. Science. Both Lord of Leisure and Mr Science spend most of their time disguised as Neil Ellis, mild-mannered, retired teacher at a great suburban school system, who can identify a bird by its call, complete the New York Times Friday Crossword in ink, and snap a heck of a photo. [↩]
Ink is the only way to do a NY Times Crossword puzzle. The pencil lead is too reflective and in certain light is tough to see.
Just be sure of your answers!
Oh, and I would not pay a dime for clue.
And I never ask for directions.