The Hunter Hawk

This is how the Cooper’s hawk takes his prey. He will fly over at tree-top level or lower. If there are birds at the feeder, he will fly at them and attempt to take one of them in flight. The more birds, the great the probability that the hawk catches one.
As shown in this first photo, the hawk will also perch in a tree overlooking the Habitat. If and when the birds appear at the feeder or roosting in the brush or trees (see the second photo – there are many cardinals and woodpeckers in this photo – hard for you and me to see them all (we have 20-20 vision), but remember the hawk has 2-20 vision which is 10 times more powerful than us), he swoops down looking for prey. Of course, when the birds see the hawk coming they dive deeper into the brush for cover.
However, many times as in the third photo, the hawk will perch in a tree branch that less than 15 feet off the ground. Then, he will simply follow the birds into the brush. In this third photo, the hawk is literally scouting the bushes before, it dives in. We have actually observed the Cooper’s hawk diving into the full azalea bushes or in the combination of trees and vines that are shown in the second photo. The birds will exit from the opposite side of the brush if they are fast enough.