I recall seeing a Great-hored Owl flying down a small river with a grey squirrel in its talons. The squirrel swayed like a pendulum with each stroke of the owl's wings. The owl stayed along the creek and for two or three turns we would catch up and scare it off down stream. It was a season when the owl would be feeding fledglings.John
-----Original Message----- From: Donna Lee Scott <[email protected]> To: Tim Gallagher <[email protected]> Cc: Lea LSF <[email protected]>; CAYUGABIRDS-L <[email protected]> Sent: Mon, Jan 18, 2021 10:55 am Subject: Re: [cayugabirds-l] Cooper's Hawk Hi TimWhy don’t hawks or even eagles (many here by the lake) kill gray squirrels, of which I have many bird-seed-fattened individuals in my big yard? Yard Has tall trees & 2 fairly open expanses. Coopers or Sharpies occasionally kill birds near feeders here. A few years ago I watched a Bald Eagle drop from a tree on my beach to catch a mink that had gone to water’s edge to drink. It flew up into another tree and ate it. ThxDonna Donna ScottLansingSent from my iPhone On Jan 18, 2021, at 10:47 AM, Tim Gallagher <[email protected]> wrote: Hi Lea, It certainly might have been a Cooper's Hawk that killed your chicken. We also have Great Horned Owls and Red-tailed Hawks in and around the village. This time of year, a lot of juvenile raptors are starving and desperate to catch something to eat. Most of them don't survive until spring. If a desperately hungry hawk sees a chicken out in the open, not protected by chicken wire, there's a decent chance it will attack it—which is completely understandable. The Cooper's Hawks I've seen in the village might be local birds. I found a Cooper's Hawk nest a few years ago in the swamp behind the school. Maybe they nested there again last spring. Best wishes, Tim From: Lea LSF <[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, January 17, 2021 6:13 PM To: Tim Gallagher <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [cayugabirds-l] Cooper's Hawk Hi Tim,I live at 22 Main Street in the village, and have observed what my best guess told me was a Cooper's Hawk hanging out in a tree over my chicken yard a handful of times. Recently, an animal killed one of my chickens. I'm guessing by the amount of chicken feathers around that it was a hawk who took the chicken out, though I don't know if a Cooper's Hawk is big enough. I am so curious about whether this pair that you observed is living nearby. It does seem strange to have a food-begging hawk tagging along a parent during winter! I'll have to learn the begging call and listen out for it now. I wonder now that I'm writing this if hawks even live in one place during the winter, whether they even stay in their nests or move around. I hope you get some fruitful responses to your question! Best Wishes,Lea On Sun, Jan 17, 2021 at 12:36 PM Tim Gallagher <[email protected]> wrote: I observed something interesting this morning while walking my dog on Main Street in Freeville. I heard the food-begging call of a Cooper's Hawk coming from the front of a house just past a big hedge. I carefully peeked past the hedge and spotted the bird, a juvenile female Cooper's Hawk, sitting on the porch rail and facing the house. Perhaps it saw its reflection in the window and was calling to it. Anyway, it took off, flying across Main Street and disappeared between some houses along the creek. Last month, on December 6, I saw something similar—but this time it involved an adult female Cooper's Hawk and a juvenile male, which was following her around through the trees beside some houses and calling like the one this morning. I thought at the time that December seemed very late for a young hawk to be following its parent around, begging for food. I'd only heard that call before in the late spring and summer around Cooper's Hawk nests. Has anyone else heard Cooper's Hawk food-begging calls in the winter?--Cayugabirds-L List Info:Welcome and BasicsRules and InformationSubscribe, Configuration and LeaveArchives:The Mail ArchiveSurfbirdsBirdingOnThe.NetPlease submit your observations toeBird!-- --Cayugabirds-L List Info:Welcome and BasicsRules and InformationSubscribe, Configuration and LeaveArchives:The Mail ArchiveSurfbirdsBirdingOnThe.NetPlease submit your observations toeBird!-- -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: Welcome and Basics Rules and Information Subscribe, Configuration and Leave Archives: The Mail Archive Surfbirds BirdingOnThe.Net Please submit your observations to eBird! -- -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
