Things you don't expect to see on a college campus

I have posted about birds of prey on the Austin College campus in the past, so I probably shouldn’t call this “things you don’t expect to see.” Go here for broad-winged hawks, and here for sharp-shinned hawks. I have seen Cooper’s Hawks on campus before, but I haven’t had the opportunity to get a good photo of one. Cooper’s Hawk is the medium-sized North American accipiter – larger than the Sharp-shinned, smaller than the Goshawk. These are birds of prey that are generally smaller than the buteos, and feed more on smaller birds rather than mammals. They are migratory, so we see them in north Texas in the fall and winter, but there are individuals that spend the breeding season here as well. Their preferred habitat is open woodlands, so it is not a surprise to see them on a college campus.

The Cooper’s Hawk is a somewhat nondescript, relatively small bird of prey, but is attractive nonetheless.