About 20 years ago at a wetland in California, I witnessed a Norther Harrier trying to drown a Coot.  The Harrier seemed to be sitting on something and bobbing in the water.  I watched for 10 minutes before I realized it was on top of a coot.  The Harrier tried and tried to keep the coot down but after about 20 minutes the harrier lost balance, tipped over, and the coot managed to get away.  


On Aug 11, 2013, at 11:57 PM, Chuck Slusarczyk Jr. wrote:

> Hi All,  I've been wanting to chime in on this because last December I
> witnessed and photographed a Coopers Hawk attack and drown a Bonaparte's
> Gull at Lorain Harbor in Ohio.  The hawk kept pushing the gull's head and
> body under water until it succumbed, then flying away with it.  The hawk
> stayed in deep water floating atop the gull for a full two minutes to
> complete this attack.  I've heard of several other instances of Cooper's
> Hawks doing this since then.  I have a photo album documenting the entire
> event which you can see here:
> https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=oa.373128196111017&type=1  (You may
> need a Facebook account to access it.)
> 
> 
> On Sun, Aug 11, 2013 at 11:16 PM, Not Right <[log in to unmask]>wrote:
> 
>> Â
>> Wow-I wonder if this is learned behavior or instinctive
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> ________________________________
>> From: Alan Walter <[log in to unmask]>
>> To: [log in to unmask]
>> Sent: Sunday, August 11, 2013 7:11 AM
>> Subject: Re: [Ohio-birds] Hawk drowns pigeon.
>> 
>> 
>> I had a very similar experience a decade ago.  I posted the following
>> message to this listserv earlier this year but no one replied that they'd
>> witnessed similar behavior.  Thanks for posting your observation because
>> now I know that there has been at least 1 other witness to this.  Thanks.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> In late April, 2003 I was outside at 8:30 PM which was just past dusk.  I
>> 
>> heard a “screech, screech, screech” cry of terror coming through the front
>> 
>> yard and then saw a Coopers hawk with something in its talons flying about
>> 
>> 5’ off the ground.  It proceeded to fly down a stone path to a small,
>> 
>> shallow pond that I own and settled on the path about 3’ from the pond and
>> 
>> glowered.  It had a robin and the robin is what was screeching.  Even as
>> 
>> the hawk was sitting on the path, the screeching kept going.  After about
>> 
>> 5 seconds of that, the hawk lifted up off the ground and flew over the
>> 
>> pond about 2’ from the edge (5’ from where it had first lit).
>> 
>> It “hunched” it wings so they were only partially spread from its body.
>> 
>> It had its tail flared and its legs fully extended below its body with the
>> 
>> robin in its right talons.  The hawk proceeded to let itself settle down
>> 
>> into the water until it sank deep enough that its wingtips were about 1”
>> 
>> into the water and its tail was starting to touch the water.  The robin
>> 
>> quit squawking (since it was totally under water) and then the Coopers
>> 
>> hawk flew back to the stone sidewalk and sat there and glowered for about
>> 
>> 10 seconds.  The robin was totally silent at that point.  Then the hawk
>> 
>> took off again and headed for my apple orchard where I’ve seen evidence of
>> 
>> past meals.  The robin started screeching again as the pair disappeared
>> 
>> into the twilight.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> SO the huge question is:  What was the hawk doing?!  Was it dunking the
>> 
>> bird to try to drown it?  Was it dunking it to try to make it easier to
>> 
>> pluck?  The hawk definitely had a methodical plan to its behavior and
>> 
>> really acted like this was not the first time that it had performed this
>> 
>> maneuver!  Seeing that was the highlight my day, but I’d really like to
>> 
>> know what I witnessed!
>> 
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>> ______________________________________________________________________
>> 
>> Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society.
>> Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list.
>> Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at
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> 
> 
> 
> 
> * <http://www.opshots.net>*
> 
> ______________________________________________________________________
> 
> Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society.
> Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list.
> Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/.
> 
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