Juvenile Cooper's Hawks Staying Cool

If you want to attract wildlife to your backyard habitat...provide water.

Especially in the west, where summer temperatures continue to rise each year, water is a vital resource for wildlife. We have a new pair of Cooper's hawks that have recently fledged. Their parents taught them to come to our backyard for water and ...

...to keep cool. For these young birds of prey the option to stand in cool water, helps them cool down. These two have been daily visitors for the past two weeks. At first they stood and watched the house finches and lesser goldfinches on the bird feeder. Now they are beginning to understand that these smaller birds are their prey.

Sometimes they stand in the water for 10-15 minutes at a time. Their mottled feathering really helps them camouflage in the dappled shade.

We provide both still and flowing water in a fountain. We don't want to provide habitat for mosquitoes, so we change out the still water every other day and the fountain's well of water is covered. Mosquito-borne diseases can be deadly to birds and people. Keep your water clean. 

Adult Cooper's hawk in birdbath
Previous Cooper's hawk juveniles 

Cooper's Hawk Comes for a Bath

We had a visitor this morning: an adult Cooper's hawk. Typically they come to hunt the mourning doves and band-tailed pigeons, but this morning the bird bath was the main attraction.

Even birds of prey need a drink or a bath now and then. Both the red-tailed hawks and the Cooper's hawks seem to prefer the still, raised bird bath over the bubbling fountain 20 feet away. The juncos and the hermit thrush prefer a shallow dish placed under a rose bush. Water is vital for creating habitat.

Placing water in an open space enables birds to see any lurking dangers and frequently allows them to feel comfortable enough to happily splash and play in the water.

Cooper's hawks are frequent visitors and have even nested next door. This, however, was a pleasant surprise, a special moment shared because wild creatures see our yard as a safe and natural place to visit. Create habitat in your yard and you'll expand your own experiences.

Evidence of a Cooper's Hawk

This morning the Cooper’s hawk was in the yard. I didn’t see it or hear it, but like any visitor it left behind evidence.

Apparently, this Cooper’s hawk is molting. A variety of feathers were loosely scattered about. Fluffy underdown here, a flight feather there. This wasn’t the explosion of feathers left behind when a Cooper’s hawk plucks a mourning dove it has caught, but instead random feathers in our yard, one on the sidewalk out front and another down the block.

Feathers wear, get damaged and breakdown. Most birds will loose and replace all of their feathers annually either in sections or all at once (called a catastrophic molt, when a bird looses too many feathers at one time to be able to fly). Just as many mammals shed their heavy winter fur, it is natural for birds to molt their feathers.

Many living things pass through a habitat. In this case the Cooper’s hawks come for water and food. Often you may not see these visitors directly, but if you look for evidence you may realize that the biodiversity in your yard is greater than you think.

A Pair of Cooper's Hawks

immature Cooper's hawk in the rain

It is official, the Cooper's hawks are trying to start a family. 


For three hours on Sunday, an immature Cooper's hawk sat on the power line above our bird feeders in the rain. The bird did not seek shelter and looked a bit soggy with a drop of water dripping every few minutes from its beak.


Last year a pair of Cooper's hawks successfully nested in a large jacaranda tree about a block away. This year an immature individual began hanging around about a month ago and was occasionally seen with a mature bird. The immature Cooper's hawk pictured here does not yet have the distinctive gray cap and back of an adult. It is still more brown in coloration around the head and shoulders. Notice the banded tail typical of Cooper's and sharp-shinned hawks. These fast maneuvering hawks are bird predators and their appearance in the yard has disgruntled the band-tailed pigeons.

young female Cooper's hawk

I wasn't quite sure of the relationship between the two Cooper's hawks, but yesterday it all became clear.


The immature or young hawk is a female and the adult is a male. He brought her a mourning dove yesterday to seal their relationship and prove his ability as a provider. She accepted the dove and his sexual advances. Occasionally, I see one or the other of them fly past the window with a stick or pine bough. They are building a nest, but I haven't spotted the location yet.


If you are noticing nesting birds in your area, take a minute and consider documenting the nesting attempt on Cornell University's NestWatch website. Scientists can't be in everyone's backyard, but you can play an important roll for scientists; be their eyes, ears and observers. 


The Bewick's wrens were back working on their nest in the lariat house yesterday. And I'm still searching for a hummingbird nest; there have been starts and stops due to the rainy weather. Follow the daily progress of your nesting birds. You'll be surprised by their daily dramas and joys. Document it all with just a few minutes every 4 days and you'll play an important roll for science.