The Party Crasher

There is a party crasher in town, and you may have seen him at your bird feeder. The Cooper’s hawk is a small bird of prey who likes to swoop in and spoil the fun of all the other birds eating seed, oblivious to any threat that may come from above. Like all good party crashers, the hawk is quick and quiet, arriving without much fanfare. He is hoping to catch a small bird for his dinner and then head on his way. You will know he has visited if you see a pile of feathers where a bird once sat, or realize the birds have all flown off having caught a glimpse of a Cooper’s hawk in the neighborhood.

I have had avian party crashers at my house and real live human party crashers. Back in the day, I hosted a party which was visited, and in hindsight, probably made more fun, by the presence of party crashers. I was about to graduate from high school, and I had invited my friends to come over and celebrate. Leading up to the big day, I had spent weeks convincing my parents to sequester themselves upstairs during the party as a bunch of grey-haired grown-ups was definitely going to ruin my party vibe. So, in a role reversal, they were banished to their room and were peeling the foil off the apple crisp on the TV dinner when my friends arrived.

I had spent weeks making the best party mix tape I could think of the chips were overflowing with their bowls, and my friends were starting to arrive in their klunker cars and park up and down my street. But, when the cover of darkness arrived, things started to amp up. Before I knew it, there were hoards of teenagers descending on our house, and some of them were complete strangers. Fortunately, my parents were still upstairs oblivious to the fun that was happening beneath their feet. This would all change when one party goer crossed the boundary line by sitting at my dad’s desk in his office, feet up. Now, none of us four kids would dream of sitting at my dad’s desk, and we sure as heck would not put our feet up on said desk. One of my brothers who had come to bat for me when I had my parents on lock down saw this scene in my dad’s office and toddled up to “mission control” with this tidbit of information and a suggestion that things were getting a wee bit out of hand. My parents, eyes as wide as saucers, followed him downstairs. They took in the scene in my dad’s office and quickly issued an executive order “party’s over” And it was all over but the crying and picking up of trash up and down the street with the help of a few loyal friends.

But, back to the avian party crasher, I find the Cooper’s hawk very appealing as he sits with his blue grey plumage and white stripe at the end of his tail. He measures every move and awaits the action at the feeder. Despite not flapping his wings much he is a very agile flyer who mainly eats small birds. In the spring the male builds the nest which is usually in the crotch of a tree and finds a mate to lay 2-6 eggs. The Cooper’s hawk has one brood over a nesting season as it must take a lot of energy to raise the next generation of party crashers. It is not easy to teach Animal House behavior to a bunch of chicks!