January 11th, 2013

We had another great raptor sighting at the Blair Outdoor/Environmental Education Centre yesterday (see Barred Owl as well).  A grade 4 class was visiting from Dickson Public School studying Habitats and Communities.  We observed some great birds over the course of the day – common redpolls, red-breasted nuthatch, and red-bellied woodpecker (hmmm, that’s a lot of “red”).  Just as the class was heading out the door to the bus at the end of the day, we spotted a Cooper’s hawk perched in a tree above the bird feeders.  He was there in the hopes of catching one of the song birds – mourning doves are a favourite –  as a late afternoon lunch.

Click on the photo below to zoom in for a stupendous view of the hawk’s head!!

Here’s a partial description of the Cooper’s hawk from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s All About Birds site:

“Among the bird world’s most skillful fliers, Cooper’s Hawks are common woodland hawks that tear through cluttered tree canopies in high speed pursuit of other birds.”

This bird is in adult plumage – blue/grey on the back with horizontal, rusty-coloured barring on the chest, and based on size is likely a male (females are overall larger).  Immature birds are brown with vertical streaking on the front.  Cooper’s hawks are very similar in appearance to the sharp-shinned hawk – birders are known to engage in “heated debate” over a positive ID.  Cornell’s Project Feederwatch offers a great  “Tricky Bird ID” for these and several other bird species.

[wpvideo YzGKg8YM]