This is from The Cornell Lab of Ornithology in its website,
www.allaboutbirds.org:
Cooper’s Hawks mainly eat birds. Small birds are safer around Cooper’s
Hawks than medium-sized birds: studies list European Starlings, Mourning
Doves, and Rock Pigeons as common targets along with American Robins,
several kinds of jays, Northern Flicker, and quail, pheasants, grouse,
and chickens. Cooper’s Hawks sometimes rob nests and also eat chipmunks,
hares, mice, squirrels, and bats. Mammals are more common in diets of
Cooper’s Hawks in the West.
Don't worry about your small birds at your feeder. I think the Cooper's
Hawks around here prey mostly on White-winged doves because they are
slow and not too smart. One of my brothers, who lives in Dallas, is an
expert birder and he has verified that that is their main prey. I do
not put out open feeders because of the doves. I had to buy large cage
feeders to discourage jays from taking over our feeders. They are
beautiful, smart, and inquisitive. I saw one take a small twig and
stick it into an ant's nest and eat the ants off of the twig. They are
also bullies. I think of the groups that they hang out with as gangs. I
wouldn't be happy if the hawks kill a Robin or two.
Doug
On 8/2/2017 10:08 PM, (Redacted sender cwanders25 for DMARC) wrote:
I don't think the hawks will be clearing the area soon. We have been seeing a pair of them in our backyard almost daily for most of the summer. They built a nest in our oak tree in about April, but they never did hatch any eggs. Even so, they hang out in our yard a lot. I took my bird feeders down a couple of years ago because the hawks were picking off the birds way back then.
Last year we had a pair of Great Horned Owls that roosted in our trees every night, but they left our yard this spring when the hawks moved into the yard. I do think the hawks and owls are in the neighborhood to stay.
This spring we also had a pair of Yellow-Crowned Night Herons build a nest in our front yard. They hatched two chicks. We know at least one reached maturity. They are gone now, but they were fun to watch while they were here.
I love the birds in the neighborhood--the hawks too!
Claudia on Heatherwood
-----Original Message-----
From: Nelly P Ramirez <nelly.ramirez@xxxxxx>
To: covna <covna@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wed, Aug 2, 2017 8:15 am
Subject: [covna] Hawks
Good morning, everyone.
Wanted to let everyone know that there is a hawk (assuming a cooper’s hawk) that has been swooping around since Monday. We’ve seen evidence of it raiding blue jay nests, mourning dove nests (broken eggs), and we think the suspicious squirrel death we had was also at its hand. The birds were REALLY quiet last night and this morning feels equally quiet in our usual bird-filled backyard.
You can catch it swooping around in the late afternoon (5-7). I think they feed mostly on small birds.
We’re keeping an eye out for our family of owls until it clears the area.
- nelly on Toulouse Dr.
