What's your raptor IQ?

Do Cooper's Hawks eat mammals?
Do they eat carrion?

This morning I glanced out the window to see a Cooper's Hawk fly
across the yard carrying something bulky, seemed odd because I
couldn't see the usual floppy wings and tail hanging down. I ran to
get the camera and eased out the back door (it was behind a shrub, so
I couldn't photograph it from in the house), but the sharp-eyed hawk
saw me immediately and flew away, still carrying its load. I'm pretty
sure the hawk was an immature male.

I then realized that an adult Norway Rat I had seen lying dead in the
middle of the yard was gone. I had been planning on going out and
picking it up to throw it in the back corner of the yard to let it
decompose with dignity but hadn't got around to it yet. After all, it
was only 10:30 in the morning. But now I see that the hawk disposed
of it for me, and cheated all those bacteria out of their dinner. The
rat was fresh dead this morning, so it was probably fine food,
although I don't know what killed it.

So Cooper's Hawks do eat mammals, and they do eat ones that are
already dead. Although the Birds of North America account mentions
caching, it says nothing about eating carrion. Apparently Cooper's
Hawks in the West eat more mammals than they do in the East; in fact,
some studies in the East showed no mammals at all. Among the small
mammals listed in the diet, Rattus norvegicus was not among them.

And, finally, I had just chased a skulking cat out of the yard a half
hour earlier. The cats and hawks would eat the birds wherever they
can find them, and the birds have to eat somewhere, but at times I do
feel guilty of setting up a feeding station for the predators.
-----
Dennis Paulson
1724 NE 98 St.
Seattle, WA 98115
206-528-1382
dennispaulson at comcast.net



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