Well, it's been a long time since I've put a post up, but I had to share this Cooper's Hawk, which flew into the yard on Friday morning and spent some time hunting finches (unsuccessfully) in a small xylosma bush.
Unfortunately, I couldn't get close enough for a decent photo, but these show its fantastic red eyes and dark grey back, indicating it's an adult. (
Juvenile Cooper's Hawks have brown backs and golden eyes.)
It wasn't until I processed the photo that I noticed that this hawk's been banded.
Unfortunately, I couldn't get close enough for a decent photo, but these show its fantastic red eyes and dark grey back, indicating it's an adult. (Juvenile Cooper's Hawks have brown backs and golden eyes.) 
It wasn't until I processed the photo that I noticed that this hawk's been banded.
3 comments:
I wonder who banded this bird? How interesting. Our hawk has been a no-show for a few days, but when he shows up, he's quite diligent. Sometimes we just see the flash as he flies low through the yard.
They are so fierce-looking! Little birds beware...
cathy - Yes - we're certainly contributing to the food chain, but I don't think that's a bad thing.
ra - I'm going to try to find out something more about banding of local birds. Just seeing a white band on a blurry photo probably isn't going to be very helpful to anyone, though. Haven't seen another hawk in the yard since this one.
laura - The red eyes seem to make them particularly fierce-looking. The little birds seem to take good care of themselves, but the hawks are picking off the weaker ones.
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