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A grounded Cooper’s Hawk. Photo courtesy of Arizona Game & Fish
TUCSON, Ariz. – Recent reports to the Arizona Game and Fish Department of homeowners being swooped by Cooper’s Hawks means that, as temperatures climb above 100 degrees Fahrenheit, young hawks are getting old enough to jump their nests and learn to fly.
The process, known as fledging, results in local wildlife rehabilitators get swamped with calls from concerned people about young hawks on the ground.
Being on the ground is a normal stage in the development of young Cooper’s hawks. The parents will continue to feed them on the ground, and they will soon learn to fly. They are able to use their talons to go from branch to branch back up the tree if they chose to.
These young hawks are feathered, but may still have some fluffy white down sticking out between their feathers. They can run quite well in a bent forward position, and will do so if approached.
If a young hawk is much more downy than feathered and does not attempt to escape when approached, it may have fallen out of the nest, usually due to strong winds. It may be placed in an alternate nest, which may be built as follows:
· Securely attach a container, such as a milk crate or laundry basket, to the tree where its nest is located. Place an old soft towel in the bottom. Or, attach the container to a very nearby tree providing shade.
· Place the container about shoulder height.
· Put the young hawk in the new nest. The parents will feed it where it is.
Young birds should only be removed from the wild if they are injured or orphaned, never just because they are out of the nest. The very best way for them to be raised is by their natural parents.
Before the young hawks leave the nest, the parents can be very protective and will even “dive bomb” humans or large animals simple passing below the nest. Keep disturbances, including pets, away from the area.
An alternative nest for a grounded Cooper’s Hawk. Photo courtesy Arizona Game & Fish
Once the young are on the ground, this protective behavior ceases giving people the mistaken impression the young have been abandoned. However, parents will still be feeding the young on the ground, and will encourage them to climb back up the tree or even try to fly.
“The young hawks are not in the danger that people think. They sometimes fall victim to bobcats, but are pretty safe from most everything except people and cars,” said local wildlife rehabilitator Kathie Schroder. “They need to be raised by their parents so they can learn how to catch prey like other birds on-the-fly. People, even rehabbers, cannot teach them that. However, if one is actually injured, a rehabber can help.”
A rehabber or Arizona Game and Fish Department personnel can instruct a homeowner on how to set up an “alternate nest” for the young hawks to keep them off of the ground. A list of rehabbers may be found at: http://arcg.is/2sL6LbN
Leaving the birds in place or providing an alternate nest is immensely preferable to taking them to a rehabber or a bird sanctuary. The annual “nest jumping” behavior is unique to our Cooper’s Hawks among birds of prey, all of which are protected by the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act.
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