Very fine photos and description. Loved the chocolate raindrop, will remember that. The juveniles are more beautiful to me than the adults. FYI, I have seen a Cooper’s Hawk carry away a whole grey squirrel it strangled in my backyard in suburban Chicago. The strangling and drowning of their prey is pretty unique to the Cooper. The squirrel must weigh more than the hawk, but it managed liftoff to avoid an overzealous photographer (me). Couldn’t believe it could carry the weight and length dangling behind.
Thanks Debra. Love hearing your story. I did some internet searching: In the Chicago area, a Cooper's Hawk may weigh between 10 and 24 oz, so just over a half pound to over 1.5 pounds A Gray Squirrel adult could also weigh between 12 oz and 1.5 pounds. So an adult Cooper's certainly could carry its own weight meaning it could carry a Gray Squirrel. That would seem like a huge prey but it could happen. It must have been amazing to witness!!
Thanks for the research, Dan. Very interesting! I’ll have to look for the image of the 2 of them together on the ground and share with you. The sheer length of the squirrel, with tail, dangling from the Cooper, was amazing!
Beautiful bird, beautiful pictures.
Thank you Sharon
A beautiful creature
thank you.
Thank goodness for your telephoto lens! We get to see beautiful portraits of our feathered friends. Thank you!
Yes, the lens sure does help. Glad you like the portraits
Very fine photos and description. Loved the chocolate raindrop, will remember that. The juveniles are more beautiful to me than the adults. FYI, I have seen a Cooper’s Hawk carry away a whole grey squirrel it strangled in my backyard in suburban Chicago. The strangling and drowning of their prey is pretty unique to the Cooper. The squirrel must weigh more than the hawk, but it managed liftoff to avoid an overzealous photographer (me). Couldn’t believe it could carry the weight and length dangling behind.
Thanks Debra. Love hearing your story. I did some internet searching: In the Chicago area, a Cooper's Hawk may weigh between 10 and 24 oz, so just over a half pound to over 1.5 pounds A Gray Squirrel adult could also weigh between 12 oz and 1.5 pounds. So an adult Cooper's certainly could carry its own weight meaning it could carry a Gray Squirrel. That would seem like a huge prey but it could happen. It must have been amazing to witness!!
Thanks for the research, Dan. Very interesting! I’ll have to look for the image of the 2 of them together on the ground and share with you. The sheer length of the squirrel, with tail, dangling from the Cooper, was amazing!
Love the closeup of the face photo. Interesting commentary
Thanks Shelly
Awesome shots! Love Cooper's!
Thank you Jennie!!