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Cooper's Hawk

Accipiter cooperiiOrder: FALCONIFORMESFamily: Kites, Eagles and Hawks (Accipitridae)

Cooper's Hawk Portrait
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General

Cooper's Hawk: Medium-sized, agile hawk with dark blue-gray back and white underparts with many fine rufous bars. Cap is darker than upperparts. Eyes are red. Tail is long with thick black-and-white bands. Sexes are similar. Juvenile has brown back, brown-streaked underparts, and yellow eyes.

Range and Habitat

Cooper's Hawk: Breeds from southern Canada to southern U.S. Prefers patchy deciduous and mixed forests.

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"kac-kac-kac", "kuck, kuck kuck, kuck"

Interesting Facts

  • The Cooper’s Hawk was first described in 1828 by Charles Bonaparte, a French naturalist and ornithologist who was the nephew of Napoleon. It was named after William Cooper, who collected the first specimen.
  • It captures a bird with its feet, and will squeeze it repeatedly to kill it, instead of biting the prey to kill it in the fashion of falcons. It has also been known to drown its prey.
  • They capture prey from cover or while flying quickly through dense vegetation. This can be dangerous, a recent study found that 23 percent had healed fractures in the bones of the chest, especially of the furcula or wishbone.
  • A group of hawks has many collective nouns, including a "boil", "knot", "spiraling", "stream", and "tower" of hawks.


Author

Gary Owen Dick

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Range Map for Cooper's Hawk
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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.
Family Hawk (Accipitridae)_blue
Species Accipiter cooperii
Length14 - 21 Inches
Wingspan31.5 Inches

Cooper's Hawk

Cooper's Hawk: Medium, agile hawk with dark blue-gray back and white underparts with many fine rufous bars. Cap is darker than upperparts. Eyes are red. The tail is long with thick black-and-white bands. Legs and feet are yellow. Alternates rapid wing beats and short glides, often soars on thermals.

● Song: "kac-kac-kac", "kuck, kuck kuck, kuck"

● Foraging & Feeding: Cooper's Hawk: Feeds mostly on birds, but also takes small mammals. Perches, waits, and quickly swoops down to seize prey; also pursues prey on the ground, half running, and half flying; known for raiding poultry yards.

● Breeding & nesting: Cooper's Hawk: Lays four to five brown spotted, pale blue or green eggs in a stick nest high in a deciduous tree, usually 20 to 60 feet above the ground; returns to the same area to nest year after year. Female incubates eggs for approximately 28 days however, male has been known to assist.

● Similar species: Cooper's Hawk: Sharp-shinned Hawk has shorter, notched tail, smaller head, and less contrast between back and crown.

Flight Pattern

Soars on thermals., Rapid wing beats followed by short glide.
Cooper's Hawk Body Illustration
● Range & Habitat: Cooper's Hawk: Breeds from southern Canada to southern U.S. Prefers patchy deciduous and mixed forests.
BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester
PopulationUncommon to rare, Stable or increasing in most areas
MigrationSome migrate
Weight12.3 Ounces