Top Photo: Cooper’s hawk in courtship display flight over museum. While spying on hooded mergansers in our wetland here at the Museum of Life + Science, I noticed one of the ducks tilt its head to the side and glance skyward. Reasoning the merganser was eyeing something potentially hazardous to itself, I too craned upward, thinking it perhaps an eagle or other worthy raptor. There, way up high against a severe clear sky was a Cooper’s hawk. It’s stiff postureRead more
Posts tagged: #accipiter
Hawks Identified
The answers to the hawk identifications from last week’s post “A Four Hawk Week” are as follows. Top Photo: Cooper’s hawk. The rest of the hawks are: Hawk 1 – Sharp-shinned hawk (immature) What you can see is the rounded wings, longish squared-off tail and small head. What you can’t see is the rapid flap, flap, flap and glide as the bird flies along. Quick movements usually means small bird. This is a small hawk. Some of the smallest malesRead more
Cooper’s Hawk and Widow Skimmer
Top Photo: Before you continue, see if you can identify the above hawk. That’s correct, it’s a Cooper’s hawk in immature plumage. This hawk, along with another in the same plumage was flying from perch to perch in the woods next to the path, squeakily calling as it went. The two young hawks were recently fledged from a nearby nest. I didn’t see an adult, nor do I know where the nest was. I did, however, see an adult inRead more
A Cooper’s Hawk
Cooper’s hawks are not uncommon here in Durham. Even so, I was surprised to see one perched in a willow 15 – 20 feet off the path in a black willow. The hawk watched intently as a dozen or so butter-butts flitted around the nearby wax myrtle bushes. Cooper’s hawks are almost exclusively bird eaters. When the warblers moved on, the hawk settled in for a bit of preening. Cooper’s hawks are one of three accipiters (long-tailed, forest hunting hawks)Read more
Cooper’s Hawk or What!
I was very excited when I first spotted the bird in the above photo. I was making the final run of the day, driving from Explore the Wild into Catch the Wind. Glancing over at the swamp between those two areas of the outdoor exhibits I saw the hawk perched about twenty some feet above the floor of the swamp on my left. Why the excitement over a Cooper’s Hawk? I see them fairly often here at the Museum throughout theRead more
Do you see what I see?
There, just behind the main branch running diagonally from bottom left to top right, in the center of the photo, is a Cooper’s Hawk. The bird’s back is towards us. The hawk’s tail is hanging down from behind the branch, its upper body and head above it among the leaves. I’ve been seeing Cooper’s Hawks a least once per day for the past two weeks, sometimes two or three times a day. The hawk in the photo, an immature bird, wasRead more