A Short Visit by a Cooper's Hawk
The hawk was thirsty on a hot summer's day
Like almost every neighborhood in the Tucson area, we have a local Cooper's Hawk family in our neighborhood. This year they are nesting in a tree one block to the south of me. The other afternoon I noticed a Cooper's Hawk sitting on the water feature in my backyard. It looked like it was checking the temperature of the water, dipping its right foot and toes in.
Satisfied, it now stood on its right foot and raised its left foot. This is a posture letting us know that the hawk is very relaxed. In the photo above and below, notice the loose feather on its side (nearest the rock). That feather will have a prominent role later in this email.
The Cooper's Hawk hopped to the other side of the water, balanced itself, and then......
...it turned around to face the water once more.
The Cooper's Hawk began drinking water. Birds can't sip water. They will fill their lower bill with water, and then tilt their head back using gravity to let the water flow back down their throat.
Once the Cooper's Hawk had its fill, it flew up to the top of a nearby dead mesquite tree.
The Cooper's Hawk began preening, cleaning its feathers. Remember that loose feather on its side that was visible in the first two photos? Guess what came off during preening?
You can imagine that a mouth full of feather wouldn't taste so good. After a short pause, the hawk opened its bill, shook its head, and the feather went flying.
After finishing with preening, the Cooper's Hawk scratched its head on one side. Look at those talons! Cooper's Hawks feed almost exclusively on other birds. They will wrap those long talons around their prey and squeeze.
Done with all of its self-care, the Cooper's Hawk relaxed, changed from its more vertical stance above to a horizontal one below. Looking towards its nest tree a block away, it was ready to take off.
The tips of the Cooper's tail feathers were still wet from the water but the take-off was graceful.
And just like that, the Cooper's Hawk was a memory. However, the next afternoon, around the same time, I was on the back porch and noticed the Cooper's Hawk perched on the exact same limb on the mesquite tree. I retreated into my kitchen in hopes that the hawk would again drop to the ground to drink or take a bath.
No luck though. After a few minutes I went outside and looked. The Cooper's Hawk had flown off. I will look for it each afternoon for the next few days just in case it returns.