There is one thing all the books neglect to tell you in their instructions on how to attract songbirds to your backyard and its feeders: your efforts also invite the predators of these birds. Over the past few weeks I've observed a juvenile Cooper's hawk visiting the section of block wall where I periodically place sunflower seeds for a colorful pair of northern cardinals. But the youngster is not interested in mere kernels; he's got his sharp eyesight set on a feathered meal.
I've written quite a lot about the unwelcome visitors my bird feeding efforts have attracted like the hordes of mourning doves and house finches. Well it turns out that the doves are actually a favorite food for hungry Cooper's hawks. So I may have inadvertently stumbled upon a natural solution to my pesky problem with the marauding seed-eaters.
There was a span of a few weeks where I daily counted at least seven or eight mourning doves lurking vulture-like in wait for hand-outs. As of last count, that number might be down to three or four. So either the beggars have moved on to the home of a more generous bird-lover or a young neighborhood hawk has found fertile hunting grounds in my own backyard.
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| A juvenile Cooper's hawk in my Phoenix backyard. |
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| A juvenile Cooper's hawk in my Phoenix backyard. |
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