Cooper's Hawk

we have a Cooper's Hawk in our backyard. this morning I heard a strange, gargled cry and looked out the bedroom window. the hawk was sitting on the gate, with its wings hunched above its back, and its head turning from side to side as though it were looking for a mate or prey. The noise was very disturbing. Maggie leapt to the chair back by the window and stared at the hawk with baleful tension. I had thought the hawk a peregrine falcon the first days we had moved in, and it seemed like a good omen. But the Hawk preys on squirrels, chipmunks, and more importantly, other birds. That is why we haven't seen mourning doves or the cardinal recently. Most birds stay well away from an area where the cooper hawk nests.

Ironically? I was editor of the Cooper High School Hawk's Quill in 1964.

Seeing the bird made me think of high school, and the predatory environment it represents.

The latin name is accipiter cooperii. Accipiter means, roughly, bird eater.