I assume everyone in this area knows that if you feed birds, you feed
rats. An hour ago I saw a male Cooper's Hawk dive into the shrubbery
in the back yard. It came out with an immature rat (almost surely a
Roof Rat, Rattus rattus frugivorus, because of its white belly) and
killed it in plain sight, then flew away with it. I got dark photos
of it in the deep shade. I have read that Cooper's eat mammals, but
this is the first time I've seen it.

I'm fairly sure a pair is nesting in the Thornton Creek ravine behind
our house. The same bird was in our yard repeatedly a few days ago,
with flickers and jays making quite a fuss about it. I suppose it
would eat whatever it could catch, but as I've written before, even
when we get regular visits by accipiters, I see no decline in bird
populations.
-----
Dennis Paulson
1724 NE 98 St.
Seattle, WA 98115
206-528-1382
dennispaulson at comcast.net



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