As I was coming home from work today I noticed an unusual predation attempt.
A large adult female Cooper's hawk was chasing a mourning dove, this occurred
near Bowman Field in the Louisville area. As the female coop was giving chase I
noticed a smaller male in pursuit of the dove right behind the female.
The traffic light turned green so I was unable to witness the unfolding ,but it
didn't look good for the dove.
I've seen Harris's Hawk hunting together before in the wild in Tucson, AZ and
know they
do engage in cooperative hunting, but am not aware of other raptor species
doing so in North America.
Both Coopers Hawks appeared to be adults. I've seen cooperative feeding in
Cooper's hawk courtship but have never encountered cooperative hunting.
It's possible the smaller male was acting territorial and giving chase after
the female flew by but my impression was both birds were chasing the dove
together.
Not sure if it was a fluke, something I was just unaware of, or common
knowledge??
Good Birding,
Rob Lane
Louisville KY
.
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