Cooper’s Hawk (Juvenile) Captures Pigeon

Back in November 2019, my camera died. The shutter on my Canon 70D fell apart after 4.5 years of my constant shooting and likely hundreds of thousands of frames. In the last moments of the camera’s life, it still managed to salvage some incredible frames from a super-close and hyper-grim hunt sequence unfolding between a juvenile Cooper’s Hawk and pigeon. At this point, only one out of every four frames I was taking was working, so I was snapping like crazy, not sure what was wrong with it quite yet. Thankfully, what came out was amazing stuff. As usual, this action is happening in the East Cambridge grocery store parking lot where the raptors gather to pick pigeons off the flock of 200+. 

Predator and Prey in a Struggle to the Death

With the hard part of capturing prey complete, the hawk here is now trying desperately to finish the hunt, while keeping an eye out for would-be pirates.  Accipiters like Cooper’s Hawks kill prey by using the immense power of their talons to squeeze the life out the animal.

Piracy Between Predators: Red-tailed Hawk Robs Cooper’s Hawk

After the pigeon finally succumbs, the Cooper’s Hawk flies off to pluck and eat, only to be flushed by a dog walker. The hawk ends up on this exposed basketball court, but only for a few seconds, as it has attracted the attention of a much larger young raptor… It’s a juvenile Red-tailed Hawk and there is no fight here… the smaller bird concedes immediately. I’ve suspected this sort of thing happens often in this neighborhood, but it’s heartbreaking for the Cooper’s Hawk to be robbed like this. In broad daylight ! Note the impressive size difference between the two predators.

Red-tailed Hawk Hunting Smarter, Not Harder

The young Red-tailed Hawk begins to pluck the spoils of its piracy. The Coop watches in silence from a nearby tree before flying off in disgust.  

eBird Checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S63909964