Please see picture gallery below – if you have any pix please send to sheilaelliot@yahoo.com

Bird of the Month for May: Cooper’s Hawk by Ben Kolstad’s article in May-June KITE.:

This month’s bird is a medium-sized accipiter (Accipiter cooperii) that appears, at least anecdotally, to be undergoing a population explosion in recent years, although when you take a longer view, their population is “merely” stable (not bad for a species that was decreasing rapidly in the late 1960s). You might wonder how they’re doing it, too—according to the Cornell Lab, “Life is tricky for male Cooper’s Hawks. As in most hawks, males are significantly smaller than their mates. The danger is that female Cooper’s Hawks specialize in eating medium-sized birds. Males tend to be submissive to females and to listen out for reassuring call notes the females make when they’re willing to be approached.”

Come to our May meeting to hear more about this bird.

(Photographer’s please note that next month’s June 2015 Bird will be the Sharp-shinned Hawk)