Retro post... Cooper's Hawk, the Relentless Hunter

A retro post from Wednesday, June 4, 2014:

I went to Torrey Pines State Park to see if I could spot the Peregrine fledglings in their nest but it was not my day for seeing Peregrines.  However I did get a few shots of a Cooper's Hawk in the act of capturing prey, a California Towhee...

 

In the canyon south of the Peregrine nest I spotted a Cooper's Hawk intensely watching something in the bush...

He jumps and lands in the middle of the bush.

The Cooper's Hawk twists and turns several times pouncing and rattling the bush. 

Like a cat chasing a mouse, this hawk is focused on his prey. 

The hawk stops and listens.

He hears his prey... it's hiding in the center of the bush.

The wings flap and talons reaching deep...

The hawk has the bird on the run.

 

The pounce... and the prey is terrified as he moves and gives away his location.

The hawk follows every twitch and movement of the prey.

Just a little more coaxing and rattling of the branches.

The prey makes a run for another bush... but the hawk is relentless following every movement and never taking his eyes off the prize!

 

When the (bird) prey makes a run for the shelter of another bush a few feet away, the hawk is right there to make the grab. Got it! The bird is grabbed and is pinned to the ground.

The sign of an experienced hunter, one last struggle for the California Towhee, the hawk jumps, getting airborne and making a clean grab around the prey's neck.

 

Perfect grab. The talons dig into the neck and squeeze. This is how Copper's Hawks make their kill... they use their talons to choke and suffocate their prey and if near water, they may drown their prey. They do not use their beaks to make the kill. 

The Cooper's Hawk stands by its prey with a death grip, talons sinking deeper strangling and waiting for the struggling to stop. She keeps on the lookout, always cautious. That is the only way to stay alive because there is always something that will want your food or want to eat you in the wild.

 

The prey stops struggling. The hawk has made a successful kill and it's time to take her meal somewhere quiet and safe or maybe to her hungry nestlings. This is survival in the wild.

Have a super day everyone.