A juvenile Cooper&#8217;s hawk feasts on a small bird.
A juvenile Cooper's hawk feasts on a small bird. (Karen Wolf - Lebanon Daily News)

Silent hunters have attracted a lot of attention this winter, and eagles most likely lead the list of most sought-after birds of prey. We only hope for a glimpse or one of those photos we have sorely wanted.

I have said it before, but it does bear repeating that the bald eagle is one of those success stories every Pennsylvanian can celebrate.

Thanks to the Pennsylvania Game Commission, which is in charge of both land roving critters — with the exception of reptiles and amphibians — and those that soar overhead, the bald eagle is no longer an endangered species, although it remains protected. It is likely that those eagles have made all of us pay more attention to the other birds of prey.

Unlike most of those elusive owls that we usually only hear, the hawk is a daylight hunter. We see them almost daily, sitting on high branches or on telephone wires, waiting with the patience only a natural predator can display.

There are at least 11 hawks found in Pennsylvania: the Cooper's, northern goshawk, sharp-shinned, red-tailed, red-shouldered, broad-winged and rough-legged hawks, northern harrier, peregrine falcon, merlin and American kestrel.

Karen and I have observed a Cooper's hawk watching our bird feeders. But the assorted birds that now number over 30 are well aware they are being watched.


We have seen the small birds scatter whenever the hawk is in the area. Amazing to me is that a turkey vulture can roost nearby and the birds continue to feed, and it is interesting that they seem to know the difference. On occasion when a bird is taken by the hawk, the birds began feeding almost immediately after the event.

It's rather obvious that hawks have sharp talons and strong hooked beaks, but my research showed that they also have feet that vary in both size and shape, depending on what species they prefer to prey on.

Biologists believe that the eyesight of some hawks is the same as a human looking through 8-power binoculars. Because their eyes are located in the front of their head, hawks are reportedly able to judge the distance they must swoop down to get their prey.

They are found to have acute hearing, but their sense of smell has been open to debate as additional research is now conflicting with older studies that led us to believe that they had a poor sense of smell, or none at all.

Although some are experts at hawk identification, most of us have a difficult time telling one from another. I know that I have scrambled to find my bird ID book, wanting to be absolutely certain I was seeing a Cooper's hawk and not a sharp-shinned hawk. The big difference between the two is that the Cooper's have rounded tails and the sharp-shins have square-tipped tails.

We knew that males and females are usually the same color, but they can vary from bird to bird. We also knew that juveniles were especially hard to identify.

The Cooper's hawk (Accipiter cooperii) is 14-20 inches in length, according to a PGC study, with a wingspread of 27-36 inches and weight 10-20 ounces. Named in 1828 after William Cooper, a New York naturalist, Cooper's hawks prey most often on birds the size of robins and jays.

When they hunt, they prefer to perch and wait for prey, that is why they favor woodland habitat. Cooper's hawks breed throughout most of the eastern United States and they nest in trees 20-60 feet high.

Eggs number 4-5, are white and are incubated by both sexes but mainly by the female for about one month. Wooded areas where Cooper's hawks nest may remain heavily populated with songbirds, as these hawks hunt away from their nest area, according to the PGC.

Both Karen and I had a good idea that what was frequenting our backyard was a Cooper's, not one of the 11 others that live here.

The 11 birds of prey fall into four basic types: accipiters, buteos, harriers and falcons. Accipiters (goshawk, sharp-shinned hawk, Cooper's hawk) have small heads, long tails and short well-rounded wings.

Buteos (red-tailed, red-shouldered, broad-winged and rough-legged hawks) have stocky bodies, broad rounded wings and short fanned tails.

The marsh hawk is the only harrier found in North America. It's long-legged, with long narrow wings and a long tail. It soars with wing tips held perceptibly above the horizontal, much like a turkey vulture, quartering open country in search of prey.

Falcons (peregrine, merlin, and kestrel) have large heads, broad shoulders, long-pointed wings and a long tail. They are streamlined and built for speed, flying in a direct path with deep, rapid wing beats. They usually do not soar, although the kestrel sometimes hovers with rapid wing strokes.

When we did see "our hawk" take a bird, it never landed; rather it flew in quickly and snatched it, taking it to another area in which to dine. Although no one wants to see another species die, we know that something usually dies in order for something else to live.

When a hawk drops to attack, tendons spread in its feet and upon impact, the toes clench and drive the talons deep. A snap from the hooked bill can crush a prey's skull or break its back. Hawks cover their prey after killing by crouching and spreading their wings, forming a shield to hide it from other predators.

It plucks its prey and tears the meat apart with its beak. Unlike an owl, a hawk does not swallow its food whole or in large chunks. Hours after eating, a hawk, like the owl, will regurgitate a pellet, containing any feathers, fur or small bones swallowed accidentally.

Yes, we thought it was a Cooper's, and for some that would be enough, but I yearned for that photograph that would prove without a doubt what it was. To this date I never was able to take one, but last week Karen did when one feasted in our front yard, and she was able to capture what I consider a spectacular image. Finally the proof was there, "our hawk" was a juvenile Cooper's hawk.

Yes, they do rule the skies, and yes they are predators and help control insect, rodent and small bird populations. But they are also indicators of man's wrongs because if pollutants begin to build up in the food chain, they are among the first to show signs of illness, including nesting failure or even death. Like our "canary" in the coal mine, they are our herald in the skies.

Dave Wolf may be reached by email at wolfang418@msn.com.