Much to my suprise, who turned up today but Rufous the Cooper's hawk, back for his ninth (yes, count 'em - 9!) season in Valley Ranch. Jay spotted him as he came in with the mail, and the old boy has been perched and preening in the cypress tree for more than an hour. The only time he moved has been to tell a crow to "get lost" who came too close. He has been preening, no doubt wanting to look his best when Roxie returns. She came around a few weeks ago looking for him, and she'll be back. Just wait and see! Rufous is an old hawk now, at least ten or eleven years old, which is the last decile of the life of a Cooper's hawk. The only noticeable difference is his eyes, which have turned garnet red and are a little bit droopy. His feathers are a little bit scruffy, but preening seems to put them back in order.
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Rufous Returns a 02-15-17
Rufous Returns b 02-15-17
Just to catch up on this thread, after seeing Rufous and Roxie begin their nest-building activities, the hawks disappeared. We last saw Rufous as he flew from our yard, up and over the tallest trees and down into an area beyond busy Macarthur Street and into a residential area. That was on March 10th, and the last we saw of him. I walked and walked all over Valley Ranch and could not find a nest or see a hawk flying.
On June 27th, I realized it was time for Cooper's hawk fledglings to begin coming out of their nests, so I walked over to the area where we last saw Rufous. To my very great surprise, I heard them.... the begging cries of fledgling Cooplets. And there was their nest! To learn more of the story and see the photos, go to http://www.coopershawks.com/saga.html . The story is still going on!
Last year I posted here a letter from one of my web site followers (http://www.coopershawks.com/saga.html) . The letter was not complimentary of Cooper's hawks or me for liking them. It was belittling and discouraging, but I shared it with my friends at Raptor Central, as we should share the good with the bad.
Today I received another letter, and it is astonishing! I will share it with you as well:
"Hi, just wanted to let you know how much your saga helped me. I only wish I had found it at the beginning of my 'saga'! "This was the first year a pair built their nest in my Cottonwood tree just outside my dining room. I witnessed the building of the nest, then the laying of the eggs, and now the fledging of three 'babes'! It has mesmerized me and have had so many emotional ups and downs I don’t know if I can take it if they come back next year! But I did want to share one experience that, even now, I find almost unbelievable had I not witnessed it! Last Friday I awoke to find a baby hawk standing under the tree looking up the trunk and appearing disheveled. For 3 days he walked around the yard, popping up in the bushes, sitting in the pond, and walking across the deck. Never attempting to flap his wings but hopping up to chair backs, down again to the ground, etc. Never did I see Mom come down to him. Then on Monday, he once again stood under the Cottonwood tree looking up! I could not stand it, so found a decorative log ladder from my garden and leaned it ,as horizontally as I could, against the tree to the first branch. Then I retreated to the deck and just watched. Sure enough he comes walking right by me on the deck, jumps up on chair backs and heads toward the tree. He hopped up each rung of the ladder and made it into the tree. He kept looking up and traversed from limb to limb until he reached the nest, forty feet up the tree. He fell into the nest. He spent the last three days in the tree with his siblings and then today, they have all Been attempting to fly to the roof of the house and up and around the tree. I am in love!!! Thank you for listening to my story. I believe in miracles! BP Placitas, New Mexico"
This letter makes up for all the bad stuff that ever happened.
Awwww! I love this lady! She's much nicer than that last fan letter you shared. LOL! She should send you some pics cause you know she's bound to have made some!
Ever since discovering the exact location of the 2017 nest, I have been plagued by the suspicion that the mama hawk is not Roxie. Yesterday, I posted to a Facebook site that I totally trust called "Hawk ID". I will publish here the entire thread of the post, because it's educational and I think you will enjoy it. There are many raptor experts at Hawk ID, and two of the leaders responded to this post: Rick Bee and Brian Rustica.
Betty Skelton Norman to Hawk ID 20 hrs · I have a special I.D. need. A pair of Cooper's hawks has nested in or near my yard near Dallas, TX for nine years. I believe it to be the same male from year to year, but he sometimes brings a new female. The first photo is of the female taken March 7, 2017, while the pair were bonding and nest-building. The second photo was taken after the fledglings left the nest on July 4, 2017. No doubt about her being the mother of the fledglings. Can these photos be the same female?
(two images are posted at bottom of this post)
Comments James Coe James Coe Adult on the left; immature on the right. So can't be the same individual, given the timing you cited. Maybe one of the fledglings, though.
Rick Bee Rick Bee The second pic is a juvenile Cooper's Hawk as told by the vertical breast streaking. The first is an adult as told by the horizontal breast barring.
Brian Rusnica Brian Rusnica Certainly 2 different birds, but it is possible for females to reproduce in juvenile plumage, so it's possible the bird from July 4 could still be the "mother".
Betty Skelton Norman Betty Skelton Norman You are all confirming my suspicions. The urge for procreation never ceases to amaze me. This most likely means something happened to Female #1 and the male was quick to replace her before breeding season began. (He has twice before brought year-old females still in their juvenile plumage, and they usually succeed with having a family!)
Siobhan Ruck Siobhan Ruck The second bird appears to have mostly juvenile plumage but it does look like there are a few adult-type breast feathers mixed in. The eye also seems like it's starting to change to adult color. So maybe she's a second year bird beginning the transition to adulthood.
Siobhan Ruck Siobhan Ruck Looking more closely it seems like there are adult (grey) primaries/secondaries showing, too. That makes sense since Coops molt body feathers later than flight feathers.
James Coe James Coe Thanks for seeing this! Sharp eye.
Rick Bee Rick Bee Molting begins in the mantle and flanks before any flight feathers in all raptors.
Brian Rusnica Brian Rusnica Just to further clarify, the literature I've seen says that all raptors begin body molt before flight feather molt.
Siobhan Ruck Siobhan Ruck I guess what I'm getting at that accipiters (at least the ones we see at GGRO) are more likely to have completed molt of flight feathers, but most still have some retained body feathers in autumn. (Especially coops - some sharpies don't have any obvious retained feathers.) So body molt may start sooner but also ends later, which is why it didn't surprise me to see a bird with mostly juvenile body plumage and some obvious adult wing feathers.
Betty Skelton Norman Betty Skelton Norman Yes, no question in my mind about this! I have seen and have photos of the pair in my yard: adult male with garnet eyes and female in her juvenile plumage. (Mating)
Betty Skelton Norman Betty Skelton Norman Here is another photo take in March of the first hawk. I believe she is the same bird that first appeared here in 2014 as a juvenile-in-transition.
Shane Brown Shane Brown How do we know the bird on the left isn't a female? I would a expect a cooler cheek and an eye closer to red on a male in adult plumage in the breeding season.
Betty Skelton Norman Betty Skelton Norman Both photos are females. My question is - are they the same female? From the answers above, the answer is just what I thought it would be. They are two different females.
Shane Brown Shane Brown Oops. Got it. My bad.
Shane Brown Shane Brown Also, males are submissive to the larger females.
Betty Skelton Norman Betty Skelton Norman Yes, they certainly are! Mama rules the roost.
Betty Skelton Norman Betty Skelton Norman <--- See my avatar. THAT is the male. Handsome dude.
Betty Skelton Norman Betty Skelton Norman I very much appreciate the discussion here. I have kept a blog of my observations and photos over the nine years the hawks have nested in or near my yard. While I try very hard to stick to observation and not speculation, human emotion gets still gets in the way. Thanks for helping me stick to the facts.
Shane Brown Shane Brown Do you have any shots of the male with any of the females? Is he a big guy? He must be a tough customer, holding down a great territory. Knowing how many raptors are barely getting by or don't even make it into their second year, it's great to see one be so successful and even dominant over many years.
Betty Skelton Norman Betty Skelton Norman No shots of the pair together this year. Typically the male keeps a respectful distance from the female unless she invites him over for mating.
Shane Brown Shane Brown I'd love a link to that blog or a gallery of this crew.
Betty Skelton Norman Betty Skelton Norman Admins, let me know if I should not post this link & I'll remove it. http://www.coopershawks.com/saga.html
Ann Simmons Tanner Ann Simmons Tanner Thank you for this post. I learned so much!
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Roxie on Guard2 07-04-17
Roxie02 03-07-17 sm.jpg
Thank you R4. I am so ready for the days when I can spend time observing and absorbing such details without interruption. It's either wait for retirement or turn my life on its head and shake!
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I love this lady! She's much nicer than that last fan letter you shared. LOL! She should send you some pics cause you know she's bound to have made some!