Pattern Work

Description:

One of the adults looks on while the young Cooper's Hawks practice maneuvering. Watching them negotiate power lines and tree branches, it's easy to see why so many of these birds end up with broken bones. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology says 23% of skeletons studied showed signs of healed fractures. Alice, now a permanent resident at New Mexico Wildlife Center, arrived as a juvenile in 2006 with two broken wings; the fractures didn't heal well enough for her to be able to be released. These youngsters have light blue eyes that should turn yellow as they get older. I don't know how long it takes, but eventually they should have the same intense orange-red eye color as their parents. [taxonomy:binomial=accipiter cooperii] https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/coopers_hawk/id http://thewildlifecenter.org