Coops : first sight

January 17th, 2011

The day started out great - up until around 8:35am (EST).

While in the kitchen, looking for a quick snack, I happen to look out the window and to my dismay I see a hawk in my front yard ... this is picture is taken from my kitchen window.
I thought it was asleep or something, but it didn't fly away when I opened the front door and I knew it was dead. Poor baby.

After studying the reference pictures I took, and doing a little research, I've deducted that it's a Coopers Hawk (Accipiter cooperii). This hawk indiginous to most areas of the USA, though it's not the most common raptor. It's about 14-20" in length and has a wingspan of about 29-37". It inhabits woodlands where prey of songbirds and small mammals are abundant; and commonly migrates along the coastlines in groups of 1-3.

This specimen is an adult, but I don't know its age or gender ... I named it "Coops".