Paul's amusing observation could probably be duplicated every day if
everyone were paying attention as well as he...well, maybe not the
hummingbird part. The other day a soaking-wet young female Cooper's was
perched on a wire behind my house, and I counted 23 smaller
birds--sparrows, finches, even a couple of rock pigeons--perched at
distances as close as fifteen feet on wires, all excitedly vocalizing or
at least looking on as if jeering. Must have been humiliating for the
young hawk.
Cooper's hawks are often the most often observed raptor in many towns
and cities these days, but were not always part of the urban scene. A
hundred years ago they, and red-tailed hawks, were rural birds, called
"chicken-hawks" because of their predations on farm poultry. Wildlife
officials passed out free boxes of shotgun shells in huge numbers in
hopes of eradicating them and other predators.
They and other rural birds (some red-tailed and red-shouldered hawks,
even crows) have moved closer to and into cities over recent decades,
fleeing (or maybe just surviving from) such persecutions, and benefiting
from ordinances forbidding shooting and perhaps warmer urban winter
temperatures, not to mention feeders. I wish Cooper's hawks would
specialize on house sparrows, but house sparrow flocks are quick and
markedly skittish, and it is usually native birds that suffer from
attacks on feeders. Cooper's do relish, and often catch, rock pigeons,
whose plucked skeletons I regularly uncover when I rake leaves.
P. S. See some posts under the rubric "Silent Spring" on BirdChat over
the last few days for a novel look at the Gulf oil spill:
http://www.birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CHAT.html
Bill Whan
Columbus
Paul Graham wrote:
> Saw something interesting Saturday afternoon: I heard a bunch of Blue
> Jays raising a ruckus -- I figured it was a cat that's been hanging out so I
> went out back to scare it off. Pretty soon I saw a small group of jays
> (maybe 5) chasing a Cooper's Hawk across my yard into the neighbor's yard. I
> stayed out there because the ruckus wasn't quieting any; it was actually
> getting louder and wilder -- so I waited to see what was going on. After a
> couple minutes the Cooper's came rocketing out of the trees about 15 feet
> off the ground with the jays in pursuit but quickly being left behind. It
> was all pretty close to me and it didn't look like the hawk was carrying
> anything. Then I noticed that right on the Cooper's flank -- literally -- was
> a hummingbird. The scene, though happening fast, was very clear. It
> looked like a little fighter plane right on the tail of a bomber! Thought
> this list would get a kick out that visual. I don't expect I'll ever get to
> see something like that again.
>
> Paul Graham
> Worthington
> Franklin Co.
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