Yesterday afternoon I stopped at Pueblo City Park after an appointment in town and observed an adult Cooper's Hawk trying to catch squirrels. It lunged, ran after and flew up into a tree after several tree squirrels but gave up after 4 unsuccessful attempts. I checked *Birds of North America *online which noted that tree squirrels can be prey items. Tree Squirrels are not the largest possible prey item--can you imagine a Cooper's with a Ringed-neck Pheasant?
Interestingly the Pueblo Zoo has a Cooper's Hawk (almost certainly either the adult chasing squirrels or a juvenile I also observed, both within a few hundred feet of the zoo which is adjacent to the City Park) that has been "swooping down on our bantam chickens, dik dik (small antelope) and watching the rabbits in the rabbit yard (one is a small breed)." Also interesting is that I saw both the adult and the juvenile perched near each other without any indication of antagonism. I have to suspect the juvenile is a offspring of the adult though it seems like a long time since fledging for them to be together. Has anyone else observed juvenile Cooper's Hawks with adults this late in the year? I have uploaded a number of photos of the juvenile Cooper's (as well as more pics of the adult Cooper's and Baird's Sandpipers I saw Crowley County this week) onto my BirdsAndNature <http://BirdsAndNature.blogspot.com> SeEtta Moss Canon City -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en.
