WATCH LIKE A HAWK
“watchful hawk” :: 2/8/2022 :: Westborough, MA
Beauty in Your Own Backyard
I can’t tell you how many times I have swiveled from my computer to my office window.
So much so, that my big, black, beastly 600mm lens looks like an appendage on our home.
My photo blind for feathered friends pix in my yard :: photo credit: Christine McShane Creative
Finding Cloud 9
Before I get to the hawk… the prequel.
Last week, on the 9th anniversary of my mother’s death, I saw 14 different bird species in my yard. What a gift! I got so many great pix and was on Cloud 9! #happyplace
Birds I saw on 2/7/2022:
Bluebird
Blue Jay
Carolina Wren
Downy Woodpecker
European Starling
Goldfinch
House Finch
Junco
Mourning Dove
Nuthatch
Pigeon
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Robin
Tufted Titmouse
Here’s a sampling of 2/7 birds, and the adorable red squirrel I couldn’t leave out (click pix to enlarge):
MEET COOPER
As if that was not enough, the next day I swiveled to my window and got to spend some quality time with a beautiful Cooper’s Hawk (based on my educated guess…I am not a birder!), who I obviously named Cooper. I used to think all the hawks I saw were Red-Tailed Hawks, but I’ve been paying more attention since 2015 and learned about Coopers.
I learned that Cooper’s Hawks are accipiters and are more like a falcon. NEW WORD ALERT: Accipiter is Latin for "hawk", from accipere, "to grasp." There are three accipiters in North America: the Cooper’s, Sharp-shinned and Northern Goshawk.
Cool differentiators between Red-Tailed and Cooper’s Hawks (birdwatchingbuzz.com):
Other differentiators are that the Cooper’s Hawk has more MARKINGS on its chest that start near the throat and extend most of the way down the chest and belly. These markings are a reddish-brown color. The Red-tailed Hawk has far fewer dark markings, mainly on the belly and dark brown in color.
The other notable difference is that a mature Cooper’s Hawk has red EYES while a mature Red-tailed Hawk has yellow eyes. In my pix, the eyes definitely look orange. I learned that young Cooper's Hawks have a yellow eye that will gradually darken to orange, and then red as they mature. So, my buddy is a younger hawk.
As far as HUNTING, Coopers are fast ambush hunters that might fly low to the ground then rise up to surprise prey. While they will hunt small game, they are at their best when hunting small birds. The Red-tailed Hawk will circle overhead, or perch high on a tree, or pole, looking for game to swoop down and attack.
Bottom line, if you have hawks visiting your yard, they’re probably Cooper’s Hawks, as they like to feast on small birds that frequent backyard feeders, as well as chickens. If you want to protect the pretty songbirds that visit your feeders, consider taking them down for a few days as this should encourage the hawks to move on.
I CAUGHT COOPER WITH “NATURE’S GOGGLES” ON
I noticed in some of my pix that the hawk’s eye seemed muted in color. It was a blustery day and it appears it was protecting its eyes with its nictating membrane. How cool is that?!?
The hawks’ nictating membrane is an extra eyelid beneath the outer eyelid. Nictitating simply means “blinking.” This extra eyelid is hinged at the inner side of the eye and sweeps horizontally across the cornea. The nictitating membrane is largely transparent, and it helps keep the eye moist and clean while guarding it from wind, dust, and hazards.
In the last pic, you can see the membrane partially open near the inside corner of its eye. Birds, reptiles and some mammals have this extra eyelid.
Be sure to watch your backyard like a hawk and let us know what you see. Once I started paying more attention, I noticed so many different species of birds that I had no idea were my neighbors.
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