page_title: Cooper's hawk
section_title: Prey spectrum
hierarchical_section_title: Cooper's hawk / Dietary biology / Prey spectrum
caption_attribution_description: At lunch today I had just filled the bird feeders and some Grackles came in - suddenly the large bird dove in a grabbed one.This has been identified as a Cooper's Hawk (thank you PrimevalNature.com). He landed in the neighbors frontyard to eat his catch. Here is a link: www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/coopers_hawk/id
context_page_description: Cooper's hawk is a medium-sized hawk native to the North American continent and found from southern Canada to Mexico. This species is a member of the genus Accipiter, sometimes referred to as true hawks, which are famously agile, relatively small hawks common to wooded habitats around the world and also the most diverse of all diurnal raptor genera. As in many birds of prey, the male is smaller than the female. The birds found east of the Mississippi River tend to be larger on average than the birds found to the west. It is easily confused with the smaller but similar Sharp-shinned hawk.
  The species was named in 1828 by Charles Lucien Bonaparte in honor of his friend and fellow ornithologist, William Cooper. Other common names for the Cooper's hawk include: big blue darter, chicken hawk, flying cross, hen hawk, quail hawk, striker, and swift hawk. Many of the names applied to the Cooper's hawks refer to their ability to hunt large and evasive prey using extremely well-developed agility. This species primarily hunts small-to-medium sized birds, but will also commonly take small mammals and sometimes reptiles.
context_section_description: Cooper's hawk may consume well over 300 prey species from across the range. This predator is known to consume vertebrate prey almost exclusively. Often smallish or medium-sized birds are the preferred food, but also many small mammals and, in more arid vicinities, lizards are regularly taken. Infrequently, frogs may be eaten, as will (rarely) insects and fish in nearly dry watercourse. Birds in general form about 50-85% of diet. One estimate is that globally birds form about 70.4% of the diet, 17.9% mammals, 8.9% reptiles and 2.1% other prey. Cooper's hawks generally prefers birds that habituate the ground or shrub level within the local habitats. One estimate claims that most prey of Cooper's hawks weighs from 15 to 166 g (0.53 to 5.86 oz), with male and female averages of 37.6 and 50.7 g (1.33 and 1.79 oz). Another estimate was from 30 to 130 g (1.1 to 4.6 oz) for typical prey sizes, or about 5-37% the weight of males and 8-22% the weight of females, respectively. However, subsequent studies, such as those in Indiana, found prey weighing up to 360 g (13 oz) (such as adult pigeons) can be quite common in the diet of Cooper's hawks. Mean prey weights were roughly 112.6 g (3.97 oz). In Oregon, the mean prey sizes of Cooper's hawk was 135.5 g (4.78 oz), with larger prey was taken than in greater proportion than their occurrence in the ecosystem (indicating that they locally search out relatively large prey). In Missouri, mean prey sizes were 112 g (4.0 oz), averaging between 83.5 and 316.5 g (2.95 and 11.16 oz) amongst the main prey classes. Prey delivered by males averaged an estimated 65.9 g (2.32 oz), while the average estimated size of prey delivered by females was 227.7 g (8.03 oz). Overall, in Missouri, prey body masses were estimated to range from 15 to 600 g (0.53 to 21.16 oz). One study unusually found no strong dimorphism in the foods selected by males and females.
caption: A Cooper's hawk with a common grackle as its prey.
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