Tag Archives: Cooper’s Hawk

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Drew McCalley found this young Cooper's Hawk perched on top of his bird feeder recently. The hawk wasn't looking for birdseed, that's for sure. Cooper's Hawks eat smaller birds.

If you see a hawk staking out your bird feeder, you could take the feeder down for a day or so, encouraging the hawk to move on.

Cooper's Hawks are very agile fliers and very fast! They are year round residents of the Mendonoma Coast.
To hear their calls, here is a link to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/coopers_hawk/sounds.

Thanks to Drew for allowing me to share his photos with you here.

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Cooper's Hawks, Accipiter cooperii, move into the Mendonoma Coast in the autumn and over-winter here. They are a little smaller than a Red-tailed Hawk and can be identified in the air by their flap-flap-glide motion. They are amazing, agile fliers. They hunt small birds. Sometimes one will show up near a bird feeder. That's the time to take down the bird feeder so the Cooper's Hawk isn't given a free lunch.

Hal Fogel recently photographed this immature Cooper's Hawk. If it were an adult it would be blue-gray on top instead of brown. Many thanks to Hal for allowing me to share his photo with you!

To hear the call of a Cooper's Hawk, here's a link to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Coopers_Hawk/sounds/ac