49. Cooper's Hawk

Cooper's Hawks are the commonest of the three accipiters that we have recorded at Leaning Oaks, and sightings occur frequently.  We rather suspect that this species cruises the property several times a day.  Accipiters are bird specialists and I'm afraid that they have a rather different interpretation of what a "bird feeder" is for.  Predation attempts are frequent, and often the high drama of the day.  In late August of 2012 a family group of three young and two adults moved into the yard for almost a month.  Bird use of the property plummeted and we went from using four gallons of bird seed a week to less than one for the entire month.  When they finally moved on, bird numbers rebounded.

Separating Cooper's from Sharp-shinned Hawks can be difficult with some birds. A couple of websites that are very helpful are:

http://static.birds.cornell.edu/pfw/AboutBirdsandFeeding/accipiterIDtable.htm

https://www.carolinabirdclub.org/misc/id/accipiters.html

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