Massive Meal
A juvenile Cooper’s Hawk has a turn at the carcass of a young Eastern Cottontail rabbit – the first time its mother has captured mammalian prey during the nesting season.
A juvenile Cooper’s Hawk has a turn at the carcass of a young Eastern Cottontail rabbit – the first time its mother has captured mammalian prey during the nesting season.
An adult female Cooper’s Hawk (left) retrieves the remains of a bird that was delivered and dropped by her young fledglings. She nabbed the carcass in mid-air and returned it to their feeding perch.
A juvenile Cooper’s Hawk explores the canopy surrounding its nest tree during its “fledge week.”
Two juvenile Cooper’s Hawk take a break from play-hunting a squirrel to socialize in the lawn near their nest.
The juveniles are two weeks out of the nest and have had some success hunting but are still relying on their parents for food.
Three of the four nestlings two of which you can barely see, one is directly below the one standing and the third is just to the left preening.
Have been watching this Cooper’s hawk nest since late spring, these young birds grow very rapidly as about a week after this picture was taken the young hawks already had lost their down and were sporting juvenile plumage. It is located in the W.E. Burton conservation area in Russell. The parents ended up with four healthy fledglings. Only two weeks after leaving the nest this young birds are skilled hunters.