Hawk Season

Written by Candace Stuart of Wild Bird Center
October 12, 2009

So, the other thing about fall is the return of the Hawks. They've been around through the year, but become much more apparent in our yards as the birds flock together to find food.

And then, of course, as the leaves drop from the trees, birds are much more visible. Sharpshinned and Coopers Hawks are the most commonly seen in the metro area. These acipitors are built to go into bushes and trees. They have relatively short wings and long tails that give them much better manueverability than the large hawks.

There is a hackberry tree in my front yard. Saturday, after that cold night, I think the leaves were just hanging on for dear life.  I happened by the window just as a small, and I'm guessing, juvenile sharpie hit the tree in pursuit of a blue jay. The tree leaves simultaneously dropped from the tree, the jay took off, and the hawk took off pursued by the rest of the jay family.

These events always clear the yard of birds for awhile, but they recover quickly, especially if there were no casualties.

These little hawks don't pose a threat to your small dogs (or kitties who should be in the house anyway) because birds are the main prey this time of year and they are really too small to pick up anything much bigger than a rock dove.

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