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Accipiter cooperii
This beautiful hawk visits my bird bath on hot summer days, taking a bath and getting a drink. He is a very shy hawk, if he sees any movement at all, he flies away and he will often sit in a nearby tree looking around before coming down to the water. I think this is a younger hawk with a wing span less than 30 inches. The average wing span is 27 to 36 inches.
Cooper’s Hawks prefer mixed deciduous forests and open woodlands, including small woodlots in North America. There are several small woodlots around the area I live, where this one comes to get a drink and feed.
I keep feed out for birds and have several dove that come in to feed. This hawk has killed at least one of the dove right next to the water dish. They capture prey from cover or while flying quickly through dense vegetation. It captures a bird with its feet, and will squeeze it repeatedly to kill it.
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