Educate Yourself About the Cooper's Hawk and Other Hawks
Cooper's Hawk
The Cooper’s Hawk has a relatively large head, crown-sized body, rusty colored underside, stiff and choppy wingbeats, and a long rounded tail. Its length is 14-20in (35-50cm) Its wingspan is 31in (77cm) Its voice is a rapid “kek kek, kek”. Their eggs are white or blue-white with splotches appearing halfway down, with one clutch of 4-5 or (3-6) eggs. Both male and female incubate for about 32-36 days, and the fledging time is around 27-34 days. Both male and female feed their young. The female is a bit larger than the male and has a deep brown back and a streaky underside.
Hawks are even more impressive to look at up close; they are very handsome birds with sharp piercing eyes, a strong curved beak, and sharp talons that reflect its incredible hunting habits. They are wonderfully adapted to catch small birds with the rounded wings and long tail, gives them the ability to quickly change course as they eagerly pursue its prey. Watch them up above as they migrate in groups over open country during fall and winter time.
They are lured to your lovely bird feeding gardens because of the concentrated amounts of small feeder birds, and birds like doves, sparrows, flickers, and jays are especially attractive prays to the Cooper’s Hawks. Although they cause quite a stir with their presence, they will usually only stay around your feeding stations for a few short days.
Cooper’s and Sharp-shinned hawks are look-alike birds, but the sharp-shinned is a little bit smaller, more the size of a Rock Pigeon. Their tail shape and head size is a great way to tell them apart: the Cooper’s has a larger head and a round-tipped tail, while the Sharp-shinned has a smaller head with a more square looking tail. The Cooper’s Hawk has a very distinctive flight pattern of several fast flaps, and then a long glide, and with its longer legs, toes, and talons, will for sure help them in catching fleeing birds in dense brush. They will hunt from hidden perches and in low brush, while the Sharp-shinned Hawk will hunt from high tree tops in more open spaces.
The Cooper’s Hawk must eat at least the size of a Mourning Dove every one or two days to satisfy its hunger. They feed on birds like European Starlings, Dark-eyed Juncos, and House Sparrows, but will occasionally feed on mammals and reptiles as well. After capturing a prey, they will spread their wings and tail over the catch to prevent it from escaping.
Most hawks build their nests high up in trees, in wooded areas, and its construction is coarse-looking but very sturdy and well built. Hawks will usually stay away from humans, but if you have a very large property, you will be likely to host some nesting Cooper’s or Sharp-shinned Hawks. There is a falcon that will accept one of your mounted nest boxes, in your lovely bird feeding garden, (if the right size is available). It is called the American kestrel, witch is a beautiful, small, slim falcon that will come and go as it pleases, undisturbed by human presence.
If you notice these birds over and around your lovely bird feeding garden, stop filling your feeding stations for a couple of weeks, to keep the amount of visiting birds from showing up as much, and that will usually take care of the problem.
