Participant Photo: Strange Behavior

A juvenile Cooper’s Hawk sat on the wall of our patio for fifteen minutes or so looking intently around the yard. It then flew up to a branch in our Birch and sat there looking around. A short time later the Goldfinches began returning, landing in the same tree and watching the hawk who was watching them. Then they began landing on the feeder while the hawk kept turning it’s head to watch them. This went on for five minutes or so when the hawk took a swipe at the birds on the feeder – without success.

I have never seen this kind of behavior on the part of birds at our feeders when a hawk was present.