I’ve often thought that birds are smarter than many people realize and my opinion was reinforced when I watched a Cooper’s Hawk deal with its prey recently at Colonel Sam Smith Park in Toronto.
It’s a bit sad to realize that this is the last minute this Northern Flicker would enjoy going about its usual business of hunting for food. I watched it fly in and land on this tree and then seconds later in a flurry of shrieking and wings, it was captured by a Cooper’s Hawk which must also have seen it land.
(You may not want to read any further if this is a bad time for you to read about a bird being hunted and killed.)
A Cooper’s Hawk Strikes: but Not Cleanly
When the shrieking stopped I started looking for where the hawk and Flicker had landed. They were both on the ground near the foot of the trees. Unfortunately, the Flicker was not yet dead. It struggled trying to free itself.
The Cooper’s Hawk stood as if considering what to do. It mantled its wings over the prey and several times it looked around and up as if aware that another predator could steal this food from it or even attack. It also seemed to consider it too risky to release its grasp on the Flicker and try for a killing one.
An Astonishing Decision: The Cooper’s Hawk Moves Its Prey to the Pond
After over a minute, the Cooper’s Hawk began to awkwardly hop, flapping for balance, carrying the Flicker towards the nearby pond.
The hawk continued to look above and around itself for other threats.
It carried the Flicker and jumped into the water, totally submerging the wounded bird.
For over two minutes, the Cooper’s Hawk stood in the water, watching everything but not looking at its kill.
I was surprised when a flock of Mallards swam quite close to the hawk and then milled about. They were not interested in me and were on the far side of the pond. I have seen Mallards eating carrion–were they hoping to scare the hawk away from its kill?
Suddenly, the hawk flew away carrying its prey to a safer spot. Drowning the Flicker had prevented it from escaping.
Another person visiting the park that day posted a photo of a Cooper’s hawk perched in a tree with a Flicker–most likely it was this same bird.
I had gone down to Col Sam hoping to see an unusual sparrow. Being able to watch this unusual hawk hunting sequence more than made my trip worth while.
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