The smaller hawks, such as the sharp-shinned and Cooper's, are the most efficient daytime raptors I know of. They have made a comeback in my lifetime from basically zero, in the '50s through the 90s, to abundance now. I see them everyday on the farm, and driving the roads. They just seem to never miss a quail. I have been sitting in my truck watching wild bobs feeding in the edge of a field and seen a Cooper's hawk come from behind me, fly right over my truck, and nail one of the quail. I see them chasing frantic songbirds through the hedgerows and field edges often. They are not hawks of the open areas, but frequent woods and thickets.
As many red-tails as there are, if they were as efficient as the Cooper's there wouldn't be anything left for any of them to eat. Cooper's are just stone killers........ period.
But............... BrentD says he's seen them miss lots of times.
SRH
Agree with this also. Cooper and sharp shined are difficult to tell apart like many hawks but both are very common now. Sometimes I don't fill my feeders because it just becomes a Cooper and sharp shined feeder.
It sure seems to me that they seldom miss from what I have observed. Couple of years ago was filling the feeders on the deck and a sharp shinned tried to pick off a meal with me standing there. Think because I was standing there he got confused and did miss. He did however hit the sliding glass door instead, he hit it so hard thought he broke it at first. Broke his neck instead.
As mentioned earlier it is a Federal offense to kill or even be in possession of a dead hawk, owl or eagle in the US. So I called the DNR and asked what should I do with it and they said just throw it in the trash.
