Hello All,
On the morning of August 9 in Ames, I witnessed what appeared to be a young Cooper's hawk swoop down and capture what I assumed was a rodent or a bird. Apparently, the bird was unusually accustomed to people, and I was able to get fairly close.
I realized that this hawk was actually "catching" a piece of wood that was laying on the ground. The Coopers' hawk then hopped to another nearby piece of wood and repeated the process. This activity went on for several minutes until the raptor seemed to tire of the act and flew to the top of a light pole.
So-I have never witnessed this type of behavior before. Could it be that this Coopers hawk was engaged in a type of practice for hunting?
Any thoughts? Have any of you witnessed this type of behavior?
