Cooper's Hawk in nest at Maplewood Park

[Bird Brain]

Hi everyone.  I was out walking around this afternoon at Maplewood Park and saw a Cooper's Hawk sitting in a nest.  

Thank You to Sue (Luv2Bird) for the heads up!  Thank You also to my friend Rod out walking his dog for pointing up and saying "See the tail?".  

Jo-Anne  

Maplewood Park:  East side of Glen Erin Dr., just North of Aquitaine Ave.

[ostrich]

I visited this park and successfully located this nest today.  Naturally I walked around the park for about 20 min before locating it about 30 yards away from where I parked my car.  

   I was struck by how small this particular nest is - I had a couple of Coopers nesting in the park where I live (Bloor & Cawthra) and their nest was quite a bit higher and noticeably larger (unfortunately they seemed to have moved somewhere else this year).  If I just saw the nest itself I would have guessed it would be a sharp-shinned nest,  but the incubating bird certainly did have the classic Coopers rounded tail tip.  It makes you wonder how there would be sufficient room for eyasses should they hatch any.  The other interesting question is how they might react to human presence - the incubating bird did not have any reaction to me,  but Coopers are known for being very aggressive towards human presence near the nest after chicks are hatched (although whether this holds in urban areas is sort of an open question).  

   Does anyone have an idea when incubation might have started?  (Typical Coopers incubation period is approx. 34 days).  Is there any previous history of nesting in the park?

[Bird Brain]

I visited this park and successfully located this nest today.  Naturally I walked around the park for about 20 min before locating it about 30 yards away from where I parked my car.  

 Hi ostrich.  Welcome to the forum!    Murphy's Law re: 30 yards away.  :lol:  I'm happy to read that you found the nest.  

I was struck by how small this particular nest is - I had a couple of Coopers nesting in the park where I live (Bloor & Cawthra) and their nest was quite a bit higher and noticeably larger (unfortunately they seemed to have moved somewhere else this year).  If I just saw the nest itself I would have guessed it would be a sharp-shinned nest,  but the incubating bird certainly did have the classic Coopers rounded tail tip.  It makes you wonder how there would be sufficient room for eyasses should they hatch any.  The other interesting question is how they might react to human presence - the incubating bird did not have any reaction to me,  but Coopers are known for being very aggressive towards human presence near the nest after chicks are hatched (although whether this holds in urban areas is sort of an open question).  

   Does anyone have an idea when incubation might have started?  (Typical Coopers incubation period is approx. 34 days).  Is there any previous history of nesting in the park?

No hawk or nest on April 5th so somewhere between the 5th and the 18th (first sighting).  On April 30th, adult Cooper's Hawk flew out of nest and landed on a nearby tree branch to preen.  Got a really great look at this big beauty!  

Apparently, Yes there is a history of nesting in the park and this is the 4th or 5th year - past years 2 chicks have been sighted each year.  So, I keep looking!  Should be very soon!!!  I might go take a look tomorrow.

Jo-Anne  

[Bird Brain]

Monday update:  Nope, still no baby hawks.

[ostrich]

If my Coopers last year are any guide,  my guess is incubation started closer to the 18th than the 5th,  so that could mean there's still some time to go before hatching.  However,  even after an eyas has hatched,  it could be some time before it can actually be seen above the rim of the nest - depending on how much time you're spending observing,  it might not be obvious there's a chick even if one has hatched.  Of course if you see feeding behavior, that would be a real sign.  The female will tend to sit higher to brood a hatched chick as well as continue to incubate any remaining eggs,  but the change in position will be subtle and might be hard to discern from the ground.

[ostrich]

I dropped by the nest site again this morning and spent about an hour or so observing the nest and the area nearby - I did not see any strong indications of hatched chicks - I was able to see a number of shifts of position by the incubating (I assume) female - and she got up at one point and stood at the rim of the nest.  Nice large female,  mature adult (eye color).  

   I did catch the male flying in - unfortunately I haven't got a good feel for the patterns of this pair so I only caught him coming in from behind me out of the corner of my eye and missed whether there was any sign of a food delivery which might suggest a hatching.  I was unable to even tell for sure if there was a simple nest exchange or whether the male arrived and left - you still can lose any sight of them when they shift position.  However,  based on my observations of my Coopers last year the male never delivered food directly to the nest during incubation (they never hatched any eggs) - all adult-adult food transfers were done off the nest.  An adult landed in a tree close to the nest and then flew off again after a few minutes,  but I don't have a good idea where they're active off the nest.

[Bird Brain]

Hi ostrich.  Great write up - interesting reading!    
Thank You for the update.

[ostrich]

I dropped by the nest site again - I observed both adults during the time I was there - I'm not positive on identification of male vs female yet but the second adult (presumably male) arrived on the nest shortly after I arrived.  Still no clear sign of anything other than incubation.  

   Both adults did indulge me with some extended looks at their plumage (incubating bird standing on the nest rim edge and preening for an extended period,  and the other adult after arriving and leaving the nest,  perching in a nearby tree about 30 ft away for a good 20-25 min).  The bird in the tree (which I'm provisionally assuming to be the male) looked to have noticeable more rufous plumage on the upper and middle chest (both adults have a typical Coopers rufous and cream colored feathers on the chest,  but in this case the upper chest is very strongly rufous,  with somewhat more cream colored tone on the lower chest/upper belly).  By contrast the bird on the nest (provisionally assumed to be female) also had more rufous tone on the upper/mid chest and more cream coloration towards the belly,  but the overall tone throughout is noticeably less strongly rufous overall).  The bird on the nest also had a small darker patch to the feathers on the lower right side of the belly,  although I'm not positive this wasn't dirt and/or a leaf or branch in the way.  

  These characteristics may serve to distinguish the individuals if they can be consistently observed.  The best way to confirm which is male and which is female would be based on size - although I think the difference in size is a bit less than my pair last year (my male was particularly small),  the female will undoubtedly be visibly larger in size.  However at this stage it may require some real luck to get an useful side by side view of them for comparison.  

   My male Coopers last year had a particular tree he would usually perch in when roosting near the nest - I don't know if the tree close to the nest the bird was in this evening could be a common and/or night roost area or not (when walking towards the nest along the path from Glen Erin,  this tree would be in a direction at about 2 o clock relative to the nest (I think that is roughly eastward).

[Bird Brain]

I was able to see a number of shifts of position by the incubating (I assume) female - and she got up at one point and stood at the rim of the nest.  Nice large female,  mature adult (eye color).  

Hi ostrich.  I was there this morning from about 10:20am-11:20am.  Observed the exact same behaviour that you have described above.  While at rim of the nest, she decided to preen.  Still haven't observed any feeding behaviour but think we're both going to see this very shortly!  

Lots of birds, butterflies, dragonflies and squirrels at Maplewood Park today.  At least a dozen Blue Jays squawking up a storm!, 3 Cardinals (2m, 1f), etc.

[Bird Brain]

Wednesday afternoon: female Cooper's sitting in nest, shifted positions a few times, no feeding behaviour observed.

[Cody]

Do you have any tips to finding a Coopers nest?  I know I have Red-tails, Turkey Vultures and Coopers nesting very close to my house but I cant find the nest. It is very hard to because there is no trail that goes to where I suspect the nests are.

[Bird Brain]

Hi Cody.  Look fairly high up in trees, 20 feet or higher.  Look for a mess of sticks like this ...

http://neighborhoodnature.files.wordpre ... est011.jpg

If possible, look from different areas and angles.  The nest at Maplewood Park can be seen perfectly from some spots along the paved trail - a few feet later looking up, you wouldn't know it's there!  

Usually the nests are fairly large.  As mentioned in an earlier post by "ostrich", this particular nest is small and not as high up.  

If you do end up finding the nest, look to see if you can see the hawk's tail sticking out over the edge.  At first glance, you might just think it's a stick or twig but look for the rounded end/tip of the tail.  

A couple of times, I thought the nest was empty - all of a sudden, the female hawk's head came poking up and looking around.  Sometimes she climbs right up onto the rim of the nest - this is cool to see.  

Hope this helps a bit.  

Jo-Anne  

[Bird Brain]

Thursday update:  This afternoon, male Cooper's sitting on rim of nest looking around.  Still no feeding behaviour observed.

[Cody]

Hi Cody.  Look fairly high up in trees, 20 feet or higher.  Look for a mess of sticks like this ...

http://neighborhoodnature.files.wordpre ... est011.jpg

If possible, look from different areas and angles.  The nest at Maplewood Park can be seen perfectly from some spots along the paved trail - a few feet later looking up, you wouldn't know it's there!  

Usually the nests are fairly large.  As mentioned in an earlier post by "ostrich", this particular nest is small and not as high up.  

If you do end up finding the nest, look to see if you can see the hawk's tail sticking out over the edge.  At first glance, you might just think it's a stick or twig but look for the rounded end/tip of the tail.  

A couple of times, I thought the nest was empty - all of a sudden, the female hawk's head came poking up and looking around.  Sometimes she climbs right up onto the rim of the nest - this is cool to see.  

Hope this helps a bit.  

Jo-Anne  

Thanks!

[Bird Brain]

Cody ... You're welcome.