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Cooper's Hawk experience



Birders,

This AM while trying to get field data collected on a Barred Owl nest site,
I was pleasantly distracted by a cackling Cooper's Hawk about 150 meters
away. I decided to "give a hoot" and see if I could get the hawk to come in
for a closer inspection. Apparently none of the clan thought much of my
cackling imitation, but both a single immature female and the adult male
(judging by the relative sizes and plumages) came in immediately when I
tried to be a Barred Owl. The adult came only once, but the young bird would
come in and cackle, fly away, and in a few minutes cackle and come in again
when I hooted. It did this 4 or 5 times and usually came in as close as
10-15 meters. A Great-horned imitation worked well also, gaining a similar
response. The Cooper's nest and the owl nest are surely less than 300 meters
apart, and I would think that a newly fledged Cooper's Hawk would have
reason to be concerned about the presence of either Great-horned or Barred
Owls. Just last week while collecting nest site data in Latta Plantation, I
found guineafowl feathers by a Barred Owl nest tree. 

Eric Harrold
Charlotte, NC