Coopers Hawk?
Posted: Nov 04, 2010 2:43 pm
Okay, I need all you bird people to help me identify this guy.
We put a 6-foot high net fence around our garden to keep the deer out. It works well and the fence is nearly invisible. But a couple weeks ago a this big bird was swooping down, talons extended, to attack something in or around the garden. I guess he couldn't see the fence and his feet caught the top of it and got all tangled up. He was hanging upside-down by his feet from the fence.
DH put on some leather gloves and gently held him upright while I got the scissors and slowly snipped away at the fine mesh netting which he had managed to get incredibly tangled around his claws. He was such a gentle sweetheart while we worked at it. He sat there patiently, never pecked or struggled, just let us do what we needed to do. Once his feet were freed he still let DH continue holding him and talk to him softly while I went to get the camera. Here are some close-up pictures of him. I should have gotten a picture where you could see him with his wings folded down, but I didn't think of it at the time. After we took the pictures, we let him go and flew into a nearby tree where he sat for a short time before flying away again.
I think it was a Coopers hawk, based on a little internet research. But I'm not a bird expert so if anyone has suggestions? Oh, and his eyes were every bit as red-orange as they appear in the pictures.
We put a 6-foot high net fence around our garden to keep the deer out. It works well and the fence is nearly invisible. But a couple weeks ago a this big bird was swooping down, talons extended, to attack something in or around the garden. I guess he couldn't see the fence and his feet caught the top of it and got all tangled up. He was hanging upside-down by his feet from the fence.
DH put on some leather gloves and gently held him upright while I got the scissors and slowly snipped away at the fine mesh netting which he had managed to get incredibly tangled around his claws. He was such a gentle sweetheart while we worked at it. He sat there patiently, never pecked or struggled, just let us do what we needed to do. Once his feet were freed he still let DH continue holding him and talk to him softly while I went to get the camera. Here are some close-up pictures of him. I should have gotten a picture where you could see him with his wings folded down, but I didn't think of it at the time. After we took the pictures, we let him go and flew into a nearby tree where he sat for a short time before flying away again.
I think it was a Coopers hawk, based on a little internet research. But I'm not a bird expert so if anyone has suggestions? Oh, and his eyes were every bit as red-orange as they appear in the pictures.