FreeLists / tn-bird / [TN-Bird] Re: Cooper's lifting capacity

[OLCOOT1@xxxxxxx]

In a message dated 12/13/02 1:16:56 PM Central Standard Time, 
jwcoffey@xxxxxxxxxx writes:


> I would think it very doubtful that a full grown, adult
> female (largest of the species) Cooper's Hawk can
> carry much over 8 ounces of weight.  A male might
> not be able to lift more than about 5 ounces.


Wallace,

Sometimes, Nature lies in wait just to turn all of our preconceived ideas 
topsy-turvy. I had the privilege of seeing what I thought to be a male 
Cooper's knock a Rock Dove from the air one day. That alone was a wake up 
call. I turned the truck around and stationed myself so I could watch the 
proceedings. I even have a shot of the bird mantling its kill. The dove 
appears to be as large as the hawk. Then a young kid approached the bird that 
was sitting in a 2-3 foot swell beside the road. I thought the bird would 
relinquish its prey but then the most amazing thing happened. They bird took 
to the air with the Rock Dove, lifted clear of the ground and up out of the 
depression and then over the slightly higher road and down a hill. Granted 
the bird did not get over a foot or two off the ground but from where it 
started to the crest of the road bed was 30 feet or so and it then glided and 
flapped down the hill for a couple of hundred feet and out of sight. Needless 
to say I had a new found respect for the carrying ability of accipiters.

Every once in a while, when I'm out, Mother Nature gives me a dumb slap in 
the back of the head and says "pay attention."

Good Birding!!!

Jeff R. Wilson
OL' COOT / TLBA
Bartlett Tenn.


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