On Fri, Jun 6, 2025, 9:26 AM Fred Kaluza <fkaluza...><mailto:<fkaluza...>> wrote:
Do you think the squirrel died from being gripped in the talons or the fall? I’m actually surprised it didn’t hit the ground and just keep running.
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From: Allen Chartier <amazilia3...><mailto:<amazilia3...>> Sent: Friday, June 6, 2025 6:32:52 AM
To: Mag Tait <magtait1...><mailto:<magtait1...>> Cc: April Deborah Campbell <adc14...><mailto:<adc14...>>; <plynkny...><mailto:<plynkny...> <plynkny...><mailto:<plynkny...>>; Janet Hinshaw <jhinshaw...><mailto:<jhinshaw...>>; BIRDERS@UMICH <birders...><mailto:<birders...>> Subject: Re: [birders] Sharp Shinned Hawks
She immediately flew back to the nest and didn't try to retrieve the squirrel.
On Fri, Jun 6, 2025, 1:53 AM Mag Tait <magtait1...><mailto:<magtait1...>> wrote:
Do you think it was just keeping the squirrel away from its nest or was the squirrel too heavy for it?
I still remember a few years ago when we had two juvenile and not yet very smart Cooper’s Hawks nearby. They were sitting in a tree toward the end of my street looking down , so I stopped to watch them. There were gray squirrels close by and I watched the hawks take a couple of passes and completely miss them.
Sent from my iPhone
I watched a Cooper's Hawk snatch a Red Squirrel out of a pine tree about 20 feet over my head. Another female at a nest 50-feet up, watched a Gray Squirrel climbing her nest tree until it got too close and she flew down, grabbed it, and flew straight away from the nest about 100 feet...and just dropped the squirrel.
On Wed, Jun 4, 2025 at 11:25 PM 'April Deborah Campbell' via Birders <birders...><mailto:<birders...>> wrote:
I was a bit confused by this account as well. It was my understanding that Sharpies don’t do mammals (what about a shrew ?:) or nest around here. I was thinking it’s more likely Lynn has Coops in her yard. I once watched a female Coop snatch a rather large young rabbit on the fly, rip its head off at the local plucking post and feed it to four, huge nestllings in a nest located in a white pine. The boys get the chipmunks, It’s about all the mammal they can handle. So some great raptors in Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica last week. Humid and hot beyond belief. I much prefer the cloud forest.
On Jun 4, 2025, at 5:35 PM, '<plynkny...><mailto:<plynkny...>' via Birders <birders...><mailto:<birders...>> wrote:
To all the Birders,
Thanks for all the information about "my" hawks. We've had them in the neighborhood for decades, but not this close to my yard. I'll just leave the feathers where I found them and they'll get shredded by the lawn mower.
Lynn
On Wednesday, June 4, 2025 at 02:19:09 PM EDT, Janet Hinshaw <jhinshaw...><mailto:<jhinshaw...>> wrote:
Just a reminder, it is illegal to keep feathers, eggs, nests, bones, or any body parts of any migratory birds, including raptors and owls. This is for the birds’ protection since you can’t tell if you just picked up a piece you found or if you killed the bird to get it. Look at it, enjoy it, and leave it where you found it.
Sent from my iPhone
I'm beginning to collect the shed, brown-striped primaries, the longest of which is 9". The hawks still have vertical streaks on their breasts, although they're changing wing color. Is it fair to assume that these birds were hatched this spring? I first saw them the third week in April as they were examining the old squirrel nests.
Lynn
On Thursday, May 29, 2025 at 06:31:13 PM EDT, Allen Chartier <amazilia3...><mailto:<amazilia3...>> wrote:
Cooper's Hawks do hunt mammals. Sharp-shinned are too small, and generally do not nest in the southern half of the Lower Peninsula.
On Thu, May 29, 2025, 6:19 PM '<plynkny...><mailto:<plynkny...>' via Birders <birders...><mailto:<birders...>> wrote:
About an hour ago, one of the Sharp Shinned Hawks caught and ate a rabbit kit whose ear measured 1.75" and skull, teeth to back, measured 2.5". Based on fur in the neighbor's yard, it's obvious this wasn't a first. I didn't realize they'd hunt mammals.
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