Yesterday, while looking for Sandhill Cranes in Orono, I came across a yearling Cooper's Hawk with a flicker woodpecker kill. The hawk alternated plucking feathers and ripping away meat. It worked on the woodpecker for about 90 minutes. During that time a female Harrier swooped over the kill site, landing about 100 feet behind it. The Cooper's Hawk pulled itself close to the ground when the larger bird appeared, hiding I presume. The Harrier stayed about a minute, making no approach to the diner. At the end, the Cooper's picked up a lump that remained of the woodpecker, and flew off into a neaby woods.
Cooper's Hawk kills, plucks, and eats woodpecker
All that remained of the flicker was a spread of feathers
By jim williams
April 23, 2016 at 4:28AM
Cooper's Hawk at woodpecker kill site, hiding when Harrier, below, appears.
Below, a spread of woodpecker feathers when Cooper's Hawk left the scen
about the writer
jim williams
Several home watch businesses joined together in the Minnesota Home Watch Collaborative to stay vigilant across the whole state.
