Hi Tweets,

While walking home this afternoon around 3:30 pm I head a Cooper's Hawk "kak". I looked all around but could not spot the bird. I kept hearing it as I walked and was looking all around but could not pinpoint it. The woman with the stroller across the street probably thought I was nuts. Finally, upon arriving home, I spotted not one, not two but three Cooper's Hawks circling above my house. The two higher birds (male and female) were flying with exaggerated wing beats and for a second I thought they were Northern Harriers because the behavior looked some what like the male Northern Harrier's "sky dance." I did not notice their under tail coverts fanned out, as is usually the case with displaying accipiters but the female would start stooping, with the male right behind and then he would dive-bomb her though not as aggressively as I would expect if she were an intruder. The third Cooper's Hawk (a second female) was lower and one (or all three) of the birds were "kaking" so I am not entirely sure if this display was territorial or courtship or both. The lone female headed west while the pair headed south east, still flying quite close together and leaving me wishing for more of the show!

Simone Lupson-Cook
Seattle, WA
zingie at aol.com