Cooper's Hawk

Cooper's Hawk / Oil on black canvas / 5x7 / unframed / $68 including shipping

I LIKE HAWKS. And my maiden name was Cooper, so this seemed like a good hawk to choose as my first one. 

It won't be the last one. I have seen a bunch of hawks on this trip, big ones as well as kestrels, and I have fond memories of a red-shouldered hawk couple that nested - noisily - in the trees along our driveway in Connecticut. 

I loved hearing them squawk and grumble. Then, it was a delight to see and hear the young hawks in the nest, and watch the parents bring them food. 

Then one day, I was looking at the window and saw one of the hawk babies, down on the ground, sort of walking, or stomping. Worried that we had a developmentally disabled hawk baby on our hands, I called to Peter and made him come look. 

He knew that we were watching the baby hawk learn to hunt. And indeed, we were. In a while, he got a worm or a bug or something, and the next day, we saw him soar down from a tree branch and successfully hunt some little mouse or vole. 

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For Today

BIRDS HAVE RELATIVELY large eyes compared to mammals. In general, birds' eyes are around twice the size (relative to body size) of those of mammals. 

The relative size of a bird's eyes varies from species to species. The birds with the largest eyes relative to body size are eagles, falcons and owls. 

To learn more about birds' eyesight (really interesting stuff), click here or go to https://www.activewild.com/bird-eyesight/