Our babies are growing up! Their cheering section has also grown. On any given evening, there are usually from two to ten people standing around looking for the birds. Around 7 p.m. they start getting quite active. The babies are all flying, but are still mostly hanging around in the tree or flying into nearby trees. Last night when we were down there, the parents (maybe one, maybe both at different times) came by and did a food drop into the nest. Then all the little ones jumped on the food in a real feeding frenzy.
Some of the neighbors are unhappy with the idea of hawks (especially one who raises rabbits). Right now the hawks are mostly interested in birds, particularly doves and pigeons. We found a baby sparrow on the ground yesterday, which they must have dropped while they were trying to eat it. A few days ago we also found a good portion of a headless, plucked pigeon. It must take a tremendous amount of hunting to feed two adults and four young ones. The jury is still out on whether they are sharp shinned or Cooper's hawks, though Tim, who is the resident bird expert, thinks they are probably Cooper's. The two breeds are very similar, differing slightly in size, leg size, and one has a rounded tail, the other a squarer one. Frankly, I can never get a close enough look at them, but I just like watching them all fly from tree to tree. We are hoping to see them start hunting soon, as Tim found that once they can fly the parents teach them to hunt by dropping food as they fly through the air. It's possible that by the time they start hunting we'll have left for New York, and they will probably all have moved to their own apartments by the time we get back. I keep trying to get a video, this one is pretty lame because once I see the bird flying, I can't get it into the viewfinder.
Our babies are growing up! Their cheering section has also grown. On any given evening, there are usually from two to ten people standing around looking for the birds. Around 7 p.m. they start getting quite active. The babies are all flying, but are still mostly hanging around in the tree or flying into nearby trees. Last night when we were down there, the parents (maybe one, maybe both at different times) came by and did a food drop into the nest. Then all the little ones jumped on the food in a real feeding frenzy. 
Some of the neighbors are unhappy with the idea of hawks (especially one who raises rabbits). Right now the hawks are mostly interested in birds, particularly doves and pigeons. We found a baby sparrow on the ground yesterday, which they must have dropped while they were trying to eat it. A few days ago we also found a good portion of a headless, plucked pigeon. It must take a tremendous amount of hunting to feed two adults and four young ones. The jury is still out on whether they are sharp shinned or Cooper's hawks, though Tim, who is the resident bird expert, thinks they are probably Cooper's. The two breeds are very similar, differing slightly in size, leg size, and one has a rounded tail, the other a squarer one. Frankly, I can never get a close enough look at them, but I just like watching them all fly from tree to tree. We are hoping to see them start hunting soon, as Tim found that once they can fly the parents teach them to hunt by dropping food as they fly through the air. It's possible that by the time they start hunting we'll have left for New York, and they will probably all have moved to their own apartments by the time we get back. I keep trying to get a video, this one is pretty lame because once I see the bird flying, I can't get it into the viewfinder.
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