Cooper's Hawk in our front yard

We came back from playing in the snow on Wednesday evening and watched a dead pigeon drop out of the sky.  We were a little startled and trying to figure out where it came from when Nate spotted a much larger bird flying to our neighbor's roof.

We all sat inside the living room for 30 minutes and watched the hawk return, monitor the area, and collect his kill.

It's pretty cool having birds of prey in an urban setting!

Based on our tiny Birds of Seattle guide I think this is a Cooper's Hawk.

Published 06 January 2008 05:54 PM by AlexWetmore

Comments

# admin said on 06 January, 2008 11:44 AM

My friend Stew noted that this may in fact be a Sharp Shinned Hawk.  Either way it was a really cool thing to witness.

# Tarik said on 06 January, 2008 07:51 PM

First the eerily similar basement flood due to french drain failure and now the same hawk conundrum. See:

tsaleh.blogspot.com/.../circle-of-life.html

and then look at this page to see if you can see the difference between your hawk, the coopers and the sharp shin:

www.birds.cornell.edu/.../accipiterIDtable.htm

# Andre said on 07 January, 2008 09:45 AM

My co-worker and I had this happen to us in the fall, we were riding home along the Duwamish bike path when an object (pigeon) fell hard and fast about 20 feet in front of us. We looked up and saw a bald eagle and retreating flock of pigeons. It's an odd thing to something like a bird fall when typically they seem so immune to gravity.

We rode past and waited for a bit but must have been still too close for the eagle to come back and collect.

# Chris Lowe said on 11 January, 2008 02:26 PM
When I lived in the Ravenna area we saw this happen a couple of times. Once I even saw the hawk as it dove in for the kill. We have fewer trees in Maple Leaf and not as many birds as a result. Did discover this morning that we have a raccoon that likes to hang out in our front yard in the wee hours of the morning. Amazing how much wildlife there can be in a city.
# Ghost Rider said on 11 January, 2008 08:21 PM
We've got a red-shouldered hawk (Buteo lineatus) living in our neighborhood in central Tampa, FL. We discovered it one day when a half-eaten squirrel came down from the giant live oak in our backyard. I looked up and spotted the hawk. Later that day, two more squirrels became lunch for this magnificent bird. Now, we find a patch of plucked pigeon feathers on the lawn about once a week or so...apparently, our yard is prime hunting ground, even though we're a couple hundred yards from the Interstate.