Cooper's Hawk

The Cooper's Hawk is a medium-sized hawk fifteen to nineteen inches in length with a wingspan of two to three feet. Its short wings and long tail are particularity well suited for its forest dwelling habitat. The outer feathers on its tail are shorter giving it a round-tailed appearance. Its back, wings, and tail are a bluish gray. It has a broad white terminal band on its tail and its belly is white with rust colored barring.

The Cooper's Hawk is often confused with the Sharp-shinned Hawk. Their coloring and markings are similar but the Sharp-shinned Hawk is smaller and has a squared off tail rather than a rounded one.

The Cooper's Hawk inhabits most of the United States, Mexico and southern Canada. Except for those residing in the southern portion of their range, the Cooper's Hawk is a migratory bird. They inhabit the forests, preferring the cover of trees to hunt and breed.

The Cooper's Hawk return to the same breeding area year after year, but they build a new nest in a new site every year. The mated pair will stay together for the season but often change mates the following year.

They build a stick nest high in the trees, usually in the crotch of a deciduous tree. The clutch is usually two to five eggs and are incubated for 30 to 36 days. The hatchings are small and covered with white down. The female broods while her mate hunts. The hatchings fledge around four weeks of age but return to the nest to be fed for another four weeks. The young reach breeding age the following year.

The Cooper's Hawk is known as the predator of birds. They prey on medium-sized birds such as starlings, robins, blackbirds, and meadowlarks. They will also hunt mammals such as squirrels and chipmunks. Lizards, amphibians and large insects are also a part of their diet.

They are noisy during mating, often calling out in a rapid kek, kek, kek, but fairly quiet the rest of the time.

The Cooper's Hawk was hunted extensively by farmers tired of the raids on their hen houses. The persecution did not have a lasting affect on their numbers. The number of Cooper's Hawks in existence is stable.

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