Baby Cooper Fledged Today (Updated - Video)

[hummingbirdstones]

Jul 8, 2021 11:58:52 GMT -5 RickB said:

Nice grouping of Coopers. Are mom and dad still around watching over them and bringing them some chow?

Yeah, the P's are still around and bringing them food.  We can always tell because we'll see one fly into the cypress screaming (more like squeeking) and the others following, screaming too.  Then we know mom or dad has brought dinner.  We'll see mom or dad sitting way up at the top of our neighbor's cypress or in the dead tree in her yard on occasion doing surveillance.  They're good parents.

[hummingbirdstones]

Jul 8, 2021 14:41:19 GMT -5 greig said:

Lovely pictures. I respect the birds being found/spotted when the background is cluttered and probably not much bird movement. The owl must have been distressing for the hawks. Glad it found something else for dinner.

Thanks, greig!  We sure do feel blessed to have this pair like our backyard enough to nest here every year.  A few years ago, there was an owl in the cypress that they nest in and one of them was having a fit about it.  It's the only way I even saw the owl.  All he wanted to do was sleep. 

Here's the thread from that year.

[jasoninsd]

Thank you both for keeping us updated on the family! I really do think it's awesome you guys are able to see this part of nature on a yearly basis.

[hummingbirdstones]

Vince took this video with his camera awhile ago of one of the kids having lunch.  The video is not good quality, but you can see and hear him.

All the kids left about a month ago.  Mom and dad came and shagged them out.  They do that every year.  No freeloaders living in the basement around here! 

[aDave]

Great stuff, Robin. Thanks for sharing. Our owl venture took a turn this year, but that's for another thread.

[Peruano]

Following the saga of new Cooper's Hawks, I'm tempted to include how nervous our crop from this year is making the roadrunners that we feed as they are nesting and or rearing young. As I've mentioned before, while they are normally quite calm feeding on hamburger balls rolled to them across the patio, now that the hawks are nearby and vocalizing, they are much more wary and spend time watching the sky. A few days ago, one roadrunner ate a morsel and suddenly froze with this head tilted for a view of the sky above. Literally he sat there for 2 - 3 minutes, frozen like a mime watching for that threat. So far no RR lost to the hawks, but I do spot a remnant of white winged dove, wings and skin on the neighbor's roof. It pays to be aware of things above. !!!

[hummingbirdstones]

Peruano  Are your hawks Coopers?

Adult roadrunners are way too big for Coopers to handle.  The babies, depending on their age, could be targets. 

[Peruano]

I'll post a photo of one of the hawks, but the young tend to hang in the shade and thus my photos are inadequate. I do have one photo of a bird on a wire.
Maybe RRs are too big for the Coopers, but mine don't know it. Or maybe NM Coopers are tough customers. The RR's are extremely alert to the squeaks of the young in the Ponderosa trees above and near my patio. They are probably aware of the adult calls as well. Things have quieted down recently in terms of hawk vocalizations, but the RRs are still watching the sky.

Tell me if its not a Cooper's Hawk. I'm no bird guy - bifocals and binocs don't mix.

[hummingbirdstones]

Aug 17, 2021 12:33:31 GMT -5 Peruano said:

I'll post a photo of one of the hawks, but the young tend to hang in the shade and thus my photos are inadequate. I do have one photo of a bird on a wire.
Maybe RRs are too big for the Coopers, but mine don't know it. Or maybe NM Coopers are tough customers. The RR's are extremely alert to the squeaks of the young in the Ponderosa trees above and near my patio. They are probably aware of the adult calls as well. Things have quieted down recently in terms of hawk vocalizations, but the RRs are still watching the sky.

Tell me if its not a Cooper's Hawk. I'm no bird guy - bifocals and binocs don't mix.

Yep, looks like a Coopers to me. The kids will chase around the rabbits in my yard when they are learning hunting skills. The rabbits know they're to big for the Coopers and play the game for a while and then they just ignore the kids or even chase them back. Funny stuff. Now baby bunnies the kids could kill, but the baby bunnies are really fast and we have lots of bushes and stuff for them to take cover in.

If that's inadequate for a picture, I hate to think what mine are.    It's a great picture!