Cooper’s Hawk
Accipiter cooperii • Birds
Cooper’s hawks have multiple markings starting with a blackish head, black wings, reddish brown and white chest and belly. The Cooper’s hawk’s eye color is yellow to deep red and its long tail has a rounded edge with a wide white tip. Their underparts are blue-gray.
The Cooper’s hawk eats songbirds such as flickers, woodpeckers, doves, jays and robins, plus some small mammals. They are known for capturing their prey with their feet during flight. They live in broken deciduous woodlands or stream-side groves where they can dash through the woods in low, swift flight.
Cooper’s hawks will build nests approximately 24” to 28” in diameter, in an upright plume or on a branch next to the trunk. It will be built of sticks and twigs, then lined with chips and flakes of bark. They incubate their eggs for 24 days and hatch an average of 4-5 chicks.
