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Posted by Jeff Weber on 10:51:35 06/18/06
Since there aren't a lot of new sightings to report, I'd like to ask a few questions about hawk behavior.
My neighbor about a quarter mile down the canal called me to ask about the "gang of hawks" that has been terrorizing the birds she feeds (and her cat). She said that as many as 15 hawks gather in the trees around her house and harass the many White Ibis, Eur. Collared Doves, etc., that she feeds regularly. I wandered down there yesterday morning and found three immature Cooper's Hawks in a dead tree next to the place where she feeds the birds. One took off and chased an ibis in flight, but there was no attack. These three birds (and evidently many others) fly over the neighborhood all day long, often engaging in mock hunting behavior and also interacting by locking talons in flight and chasing each other. One chased a mockingbird through my backyard this morning (no kill), and another took a squirrel yesterday.
OK, so here are a few questions:
1) Are assemblages of Cooper's like this normal where prey is plentiful? I have never seen more than one at a time, until now.
2) Since the birds I see are all immature, I am thinking they may all be from the same brood. Do Cooper's Hawks sometimes associate with their siblings for long periods after they leave the nest?
3) There is a lot of chasing going on with not too much killing. Do young Cooper's engage in mock hunting behavior as practice?
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