Hello!
An overcast day, but from a distance a shape in a tree along the edge of Sunset Park attracts the eye.
Accipiters aren’t known for perching long. This Cooper’s stuck around long enough for me to go inside and return with my camera. My lens is better than my eyes: the gory remains of lunch are still in the bird’s grip. It’s digesting. 
Here’s some of the wing of the meal. Mourning Dove, perhaps? Cooper’s are primarily bird-hunters, and, as “forest hawks” use the cover of trees to surprise their prey (unlike Peregrines, who dive from above out in the open), but also eat small to medium sized rodents. 
The russet barring on the chest is of indicative a bird who is settling into maturity. The yellowish-orange irises should darken to red as the bird sees more years.
Day Hawk
4 responses to “Day Hawk”
-
Great photos!
-
Paul, you are too kind! The lighting was awful!
-
-
Thank you. You have helped me to identify the beautiful youngish bird eating pigeons for breakfast in our Park Slope backyard several weeks running. I thought it was snowing a few weeks ago as white fluff descended on our garden. Poor pigeon. This morning the bird was perched for a long time, starting around 7:30 am. The sun was illuminating it beautifully and with binoculars and guidance from your description, I could be more specific than just calling it “the hawk.” It looks identical to the bird in the photo.
-
How wonderful! Admittedly, not for the pigeon, but everybody has to eat… I wonder if you’re on the north end of the Slope, between 5/6, which is where the Cooper’s night-roosting has been, as detailed in my earlier post https://matthewwills.com/2016/02/05/19236/
-
Backyard and Beyond 
Leave a reply to mthew Cancel reply