More West Seattle wildlife: Hawk vs. crows – see who wins

| West Seattle news | West Seattle parks | Wildlife

Another urban-wildlife tale shared by photographer/writer Trileigh Tucker –

A few days ago I was watching pairs of adult/fledgling crows poking the grass for insects on the south ballfield in Lincoln Park, when suddenly this young Cooper’s Hawk (possibly one of the fledglings from this year’s nest in Lincoln Park) started trying to capture young crows for her breakfast. Surprisingly to me, she also tried to nab a squirrel, who seemed remarkable unperturbed at being swooped on. The Coop repeatedly went after the crows until finally the adults got fed up and started harassing her.

She finally flew off, probably hoping for a better breakfast buffet elsewhere.

More photos and some reflections on the usefulness of city parks are on my website.

Thanks to Trileigh and everyone who shares photos of West Seattle sights – wildlife, people, places, all welcome, besides of course breaking news! If you use Flickr, there’s a WSB group there, too.

Tony September 4, 2011 (1:14 pm)

Intense shots, thank you!

kate September 4, 2011 (2:14 pm)

Cool pictures. We have a Cooper’s Hawk (maybe the same one?) that visits us in the morning- sometimes our the roof, sometimes on our patio furniture and sometimes on my car! We’re just off of Beach Dr near Jacobsen so not too for from Lincoln Park.

Recall McGinn September 4, 2011 (2:49 pm)

Excellent photos, thanks for sharing!

Rag&Bone September 4, 2011 (3:01 pm)

I put my money on the crows, they don’t call them a “Murder of crows” for nothing.

dawsonct September 4, 2011 (3:46 pm)

Shows what a community of a theoretically inferior species (at least in physical gifts) can do against a stronger opponent.
Might be a lesson for humans in there somewhere.

Melissa September 4, 2011 (4:19 pm)

Thanks for sharing :) Great pictures!!

Noelle September 4, 2011 (5:11 pm)

WONDERFUL PHOTOS! GREAT WORK!

John M. September 4, 2011 (5:27 pm)

Great pics! About the unperturbed squirrel, I’ve long held the suspicion that their eyesight is not the greatest, despite their ability to leap from branch to branch. Maybe the squirrel just had no clue that it was on the hawk’s menu.

Terri September 5, 2011 (9:53 am)

Last night we had doors and screens open to air out the house after being gone overnight A raccoon waltzed in the front door. My first thought was “hey- that’s not my cat!”. The intruder made a leisurely retreat when I yelled and waved my arms. Cheeky!

Trileigh September 5, 2011 (1:14 pm)

Great wildlife stories, everyone! Love those cheeky raccoons – I have them too, and apparently each generation teaches the next one about our cat door.

I have sometimes wondered why squirrels are apparently so successful (= so many of them), given that they seem a bit dumb or at least oblivious so often. Maybe they survive based on cuteness plus a remarkable creativeness around bird feeders?

And that’s really a really interesting comment about the value of community in helping one species win out over a stronger one…lots to think about.

Keep an eye out for those Cooper’s Hawks, folks! Maybe we’ll discover some interesting new things about them.

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