When I lived in Vienna, VA, I had both Cooper's and Sharp-shinned Hawks in
my yard pretty much daily during winter. I also had Pileated Woodpeckers,
coming to suet and nesting nearby. The Accipiters mostly ignored the
Pileateds because their preferred food, Dove, was plentiful. They ate both
Mourning Dove and Rock Pigeon.

When I lived in Austin, TX, I had Cooper's Hawk in my yard year round. I
didn't have Pileated as a yard bird there, but I did have Coop's preferred
food, Dove. I had 5 species of Dove in that yard, but it was dominated by
White-winged Dove, of which I had 50+ on a regular basis. Coop LOVED
White-winged Dove. I have no doubt that given a choice of Dove or
Pileated, an Accipiter would go for the Dove first, especially because
Doves don't carry a weapon the way a Pileated does. ;-)

Lori Markoff
Eugene, OR
canyoneagle at comcast.net
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