Even though I feed the songbirds regularly, I haven’t had much trouble with birds of prey hanging around my yard. There is a pair of red shouldered hawks that live on the property next door and they come by once in a while, but it’s infrequent. Last week, though, I had a Cooper’s hawk (Astur cooperii) fly into one of the oaks near my feeding station. It scouted the area and moved on again, but I did find it more concerning than the red shoulders. You see, Cooper’s hawks feed nearly exclusively on smaller birds. That particular day had been a pretty slow day for my songbirds, so there were none around when it came by. I haven’t seen it before or since, so I’m hoping that it was just passing through, but I will be keeping my eyes open.

Even though I don’t want to be feeding a raptor with my local songbirds, I was also quite taken with the beauty of this magnificent bird. Cooper’s hawks are widespread throughout most of the United States and usually live in forested areas, but they may also be found in public parks and suburban neighborhoods. They tend to prefer medium sized birds such as doves and chickens over smaller birds for prey, but they are opportunistic hunters, so they will take what is around. They usually nest in trees and produce one clutch of 2-6 chicks each year. For the most part, they are not migratory, but some birds will breed in parts of southern Canada and will migrate as far south as central Mexico.

Cooper’s hawks are one of the few species of birds that have actually been increasing in population. This is probably due largely to their ability to live around people and their huge range. They and many other birds of prey suffered severe population declines when the insecticide DDT was commonly used, but they have rebounded well and are currently considered a species of low concern.