A couple of recent emails from a former student truly made my day, despite the sad photos included in one of them.
Bridger Jensen is a former student who took my Honors Biology and Zoology classes at Highland High School here in Salt Lake City. His email read in part:
- “I hope you are doing well, I have enjoyed following along on your blog. I live in Colorado now, and am happy to be out of Florida. The house we are renting backs onto a golf course and there are quite a few birds for my kids and I to watch. We have seen a lot of goldfinches, black capped chickadees and various finches. There is a group of geese that commute over our house each morning. It is fun. We have seen this hawk? patrolling the area and hanging out on our back fence. It seems sometimes the sparrow is pestering the hawk or the hawk is chasing the sparrows. Anyways tonight we came home and laying in our driveway dead were these two birds both stone dead. Can you tell me the species, and what may have led to their demise? I examined the birds and could find no physical injuries. Though my wife stopped the full autopsy.”
His last sentence brought a big smile to my face. Bridger always had a wry sense of humor that I enjoyed, he’s curious by nature and he’s now a practicing oral surgeon so I’m not surprised an autopsy came to mind.
But the photos were sad to see. I’ll include two of them below.
Copyright Bridger Jensen – Used by permission
In writing back I identified the birds as a Cooper’s Hawk and a female House Finch, suggesting that both birds likely died when the finch panicked as the hawk attacked and then pursued the smaller bird. They must have struck a solid object, most likely a nearby window which birds don’t recognize as being solid. Window strikes by songbirds are very common when they’re attacked by accipiters but most folks don’t realize that the hawk can become a victim of the impact too.
Copyright Bridger Jensen – Used by permission
In a different shot the powerful feet and very long toes of the Cooper’s Hawk are evident. They use those feet to snag small birds out of the air and then squeeze them repeatedly until death occurs, unlike falcons who use their beaks to kill prey. And accipiter talons are literally needle-sharp.
I’ve kept in touch with Bridger over the years but only sporadically. Several of his siblings were also very good students of mine (as was Bridger’s wife, the former Lauren Barth) and every couple of years I run into his mother who I really enjoy visiting with. But I haven’t had any contact with any of them for some time and last I’d heard Bridger was still completing his Oral Surgery residency in Florida. So when you read the last paragraph in his second email to me below I think my readers know me well enough to realize why it meant so much to me:
- “I really love my job and love being in CO close to more outdoor activities. Lauren and I have four kids now. We spend a lot of time outdoors and my older boys are becoming decent birders, lying fishermen, and complaining hikers. Last Christmas I got them binoculars and small bird books, they did a good job and got most birds checked off the list. I’m going to get them the National Geographic book you recommended. Anyways hope you are doing well. I’m sure you have a lot of students that thank you for being a great teacher, but I really enjoyed your classes and feel like they set me off on a great path. Thank you for being a great teacher and making me love the outdoors. I can’t hear Dire Straits or the Eagles and not think of my extra credit points on tests.”
So Bridger loves the outdoors, he obviously appreciates and respects birds, wildlife and nature, he and Lauren are raising their four young children to have similar values and deserved or not he gives me some of the credit. What more could an old retired biology teacher ask for?
If he in fact actually likes the music of Dire Straits and the Eagles I’ll have fulfilled my mission!
Ron
I was a new volunteer at BirdTLC in Anchorage, and I got to witness a necropsy on a tiny song bird that had hit a window. The skull Still had the impact head wound visible as it was like an imprint of the birds veins onto its skul. I was told head injuries in birds are permanent so if one ever hits a window and actually survives, please get that bird to a licensed rehabber ASAP, they administer anti swelling drugs to minimize the damage to the brain, and most can be released with two weeks of observation. I’ve seen GHOWS stroke out a year after impact, one I rescued that was glove training, so it never goes away,some make it but most don’t! I volunteer with Liberty Wildlife in Phoenix Az when we snow bird and we see lots of Accipiters and owls that impact with windows!
I think this was a (juvenile) Sharp-shinned Hawk. Female Sharpies of any age can show moderately-graduated tail-feather length, like this.
The tail-tip is not white, but the same gray as the rest of the light bands on the tail.
The middle toe is particularly long and slender.
The head is small relative to the body.
Two marks specific to juveniles:
*The throat shows several streaks (juvenile Cooper’s Hawks typically only have one central streak).
*The coloring on the breast feathers is diffuse (like watercolors), rather than dark and well-defined (as if drawn on by a “Sharpie” marker).
Each on its own wouldn’t necessarily be enough to determine the species, but added up I think they do. The only mark that looks like a Coop is the graduation of tail-feather length, which is not pronounced enough to be a strong point.
Late to the party today because we spent the day driving home from San Antonio. I love that you hear good things from your former students. My husband was a high school teacher of math and physical science, and a soccer coach, and even though he’s been retired for 15 years, he still has former students who enjoy seeing him. The situation with the birds hitting a solid object is sad. I once saw a bird slam into the huge picture window in my house in Virginia. I went out and picked her up; she died in my hands. If I hadn’t seen the accident and picked her up, I never would have known that it was a female Rose-breasted Grosbeak, who was migrating through the area. So it was both sad and exciting at the same time. BTW, I have never heard of Dire Straits, even though I always enjoyed the Eagles.
Susan, If you hold a dying critter in your hands you don’t forget it. If you have a heart.
I’ll bet you’d recognize some of their music…
I hope you don’t mind the plug (I understand if you do not want to post this), but I had a Mourning Dove hit my dining room window a couple of months ago. A sad and disturbing end to a beautiful bird. This was the last fatal impact of various birds. I bought and applied some Birds Eye View stickers from a local bird feed/feeder store and haven’t had a strike since. They go on the inside of the window, which is a lot easier than trying to reach the outside of my windows. Occludes the view a bit, but a very satisfying alternative to finding birds on the ground below the window.
I am envious of all the students who had you as a teacher.
Thank you, Lyle. I don’t mind the plug at all. I wish more folks who have significant problems with bird strikes used stuff like that.
Dire Straits? Singing my song there.
And yes, sadly our windows have killed birds before.
Hooray for a student who is ready to go on learning – and teaching.
Take a bow teacher. You had a part to play in that.
“Dire Straits? Singing my song there”
I knew there was a reason I liked you, EC! 🙂 Mark Knopfler rocks in more ways than one.
Sorry about the bird deaths, unfortunately a common loss. Wonderful story. My daughter had a couple of high school teachers who went out of their way for her and really made the difference. She often comments she should let them know how positively it effected her. I will encourage her to contact them.
I hope she does, April. Of course it’s easier for my previous students to contact me because of my blog and my presence on Facebook.
Enjoyed the entire story but so sorry to see two birds gone. Cooper’s are just a hard-charging raptor, have seen one take out a dove mid-air in my backyard, and they’ve chased more than a few songbirds into the sliding glass door, including a western tanager. Thankfully, only one (that I’m aware of) died from impact, for the others it was a matter of resting til they could unring their bells. I more often distressed that the hawks don’t end up with a happy meal for all their effort. I guess I should be glad I haven’t found one of them dead from impact.
I have to wonder about those extra credit points Bridger refers to for the Eagles and Dire Straits!? 😶
I’m like you in having as much empathy for the hawks as I do for the songbirds, Chris.
I’d answer your question about the extra credit if I knew what you were wondering about…
This is interesting.. my daughter and I were out shooting some photos of hawks one evening maybe a year or so ago and as I looked I saw a hawk head to the ground but, couldn’t see much more. We drove down the road and to our surprise was a dying dove still in the throws of death and a hawk who had died I assumed upon impact on the road. It was perfect.. no injuries I could see but, dead. I assumed it came in too low or something and hit the pavement. The hawk was beautiful! I can’t remember now what kind. There were no windows here.. just hard pavement.
An interesting incident, Leah. In a steep dive the hawk must accurately judge distance to the ground while traveling at great speed and any error will either make it miss the prey or possibly pay for the mistake with its life.
A few years ago I heard a huge crash in the bedroom. Big hole in the window. Glass on the bedroom floor. A sound in the bathroom. Under the bathroom sink, a panting rock dove, blood on her head and chest. Outside under the bedroom window, a few feathers – the Cooper’s hawk was nowhere in sight but I know it got bloodied up. We had to replace the bedroom window glass, and I had a hard time explaining it on the insurance form. . . I confess that I did tell the entire actual truth. But that was one lucky dove. Why did the Cooper’s hawk give up the chase? Probably spooked by the noise of the breaking glass…
“Why did the Cooper’s hawk give up the chase? Probably spooked by the noise of the breaking glass”
Or because the hawk had more sense than to enter through a broken window and go into the bedroom in pursuit of the dove?
What a mixture: sad story about the hawk, happy story about the excellent student who made good use of ALL you taught him.
Twice I’ve had very clear dust prints on my back window indicating a middle-sized bird hit it going fast, and likely fell to the ground below. After looking at the dust prints showing outstretched wings and a plump body, Audubon friends have concluded it was, in each case, likely a collared dove chased by a Cooper’s hawk. There was never a body below. So my detectives concluded that the hawk harvested the dove after impact. Fortunately, the hawk has never hit the window and met the fate of Bridger’s hawk. It’s quite common to see Cooper’s hawks and collared doves in my Denver yard, so the interpretation makes sense.
More recently I’ve added CollidEscape tape to my picture window, which birds can allegedly see. It probably won’t protect anything fleeing a Cooper’s hawk, but might allow birds traveling at a more leisurely speed to avoid hitting the window. I found it online.
Nancy, I get the occasional bird strike on my front window too. Thankfully I only know of one fatality in about 25 years but they’ve sure left some interesting patterns on the glass. The bottom of that window is at least 15′ off the ground and it’s tinted so I think that helps.
Wonderful, wonderful post, thanks Ron! I also chuckled upon reading that you recommended the NatGeo guide. Though I refer to both, it’s still my go to bird book, even after Sibley.
Susan, since Bridger asked for a recommendation of a book for his young children I suggested NG’s Pocket Guide to Birds since it’s meant for beginners. My preferred field guide is Sibley.
Dire Straits, Yes…
🙂
A double tradgedy…so sad to see them both gone…
Agreed, Patty.
I put something like these on my new glass doors after the first victim. In the 10 years since, I never had another death that I know of, though I think that now my glass is just dusty enough to be safe! I like that they are cling, and not very obvious to human eyes. https://www.birdbgone.com/
Marty, there’s a variety of strategies designed to reduce or prevent bird strikes. Lots of folks think some of them work quite effectively.
Very nice blog Ron. My youngest daughter has taught first grade in San Clemente CA for over 25 years and she loves hearing from and seeing kids now grown up that were her students. It must be a real treat for a teacher to hear from former students. We live on a golf course here in Prescott and since many neighbors have bird feeders especially in the winter we have the ever present Cooper’s and Sharp-shinned Hawks. Twice I have seen a Cooper’s grab a bird in mid-air. Once one took a dove right off the back fence and then took him down to the ground where he stood on him until the dove suffocated. Nature can be cruel as well as wonderfully amazing and beautiful. Thanks for sharing.
Everett Sanborn, Prescott AZ
It certainly is a treat, Everett. Thankfully I’ve been able to keep in touch with a fair number of them.
I have a purple martin colony of 140 birds in the summer here in Oklahoma. Obviously, I am not a fan of the sharp-shin or cooper hawks during those months but realize mother nature is how the world turns. Once my martins migrate out of here, I enjoy watching the hawks. I witnessed a sharp-shin or coopers hawks chasing a dove around a giant oak tree and back towards my house. I thought it was a martin at first being chased but soon realized it was a dove. That dove took a right turn at my pecan tree with that hawk on its tail for both the dove and hawk to hit my dog pen. I was in shock. The hawk was down for a brief moment before it was up and off flying. The dove ended up in the pen but was off again in no time. Even if I had had my camera with me, I would have never been able to capture that (not with my camera skills). The speed of these birds in chase was amazing. I am sure I will never witness that again. Thought I would share.
I love your photos and appreciate you sharing them.
“The speed of these birds in chase was amazing”
Exactly, Cheryl. Whenever I see them in a chase my jaw drops. Literally!
I’m keen to improve my ability to ID Cooper’s vs Sharp-Shinned Hawk. The only ID features I know for the ventral surface are 1) leg size, 2) width of white tail tip, 3) rounded/square tail, and 4) head size. I’ve always struggled with leg size. If this is indeed a Cooper’s Hawk–and I think it is–this is quite a useful photo to learn the leg size. Too bad I had to learn this from a dead bird. Cheers & thanks for the blog.
I’m not great at accipiter ID either, Brad. For me the rounded tail feathers and relative size was key.
What a terrific thing! I have teachers I still remember to this day.
I was sitting in my mother’s home one day with my back to the floor-to-ceiling windows. I heard a tremendous noise that had me leaping off the couch. There is the barest possibility that unladylike words accompanied my retreat from the furniture. I went outside to find a mallard hen quacking furiously while pacing back and forth by the box hedges. I noticed some movement and a mallard drake came out. He looked quite shaken but the hen would not stop yelling at him. They took off shortly after all the while her bill did not stop moving. I am sure it was “I told you to ask for directions but noooo you just had to take a short cut…”
“There is the barest possibility that unladylike words accompanied my retreat from the furniture”
That elicited more than just a smile from me, Arwen – more like a hearty laugh!
Then my day is complete. 😀
Wow! Never noticed the length of the toes of Cooper’s before this photo! Unbelievable! I think seeing them perching or with the speed they fly never presents them this visibly. The length of the talons are nothing to ignore either…their prey really don’t stand a chance do they. Good teachers are always remembered by their students…reading your detailed posts gives me a pretty good idea of how you would have presented your class material! On a side note, the other day I looked out my kitchen window to see a juvenile Coopers’ walking across the patio looking for songbirds at the feeders.(Of course the resident BlueJays had warned them off already.) Seeing none, he jumped up into a Mugo Pine at the edge of the patio, about 20 songbirds flew out, the branches were moving about wildly but he jumped out bird free. He remained in the area…not too long later I saw him with a Mourning Dove in his grasp. I know it’s nature in action but I try to offer hiding places for the prey around the feeders.
Yes, those feet, toes and talons are perfectly evolved for their lifestyle, Kathy. Natural selection at it’s most efficient. And dramatic when you see a photo like that one.
I’d love to see accipiter and potential prey behavior like you describe more often than I do.
Wonderful compliment and, it appears, a wonderful young family! 🙂 Guessing honors classes have mostly “interested” students rather than “having” to be there. 😉 Beautiful hawk also and commentary on the feet being used to snag songbirds out of the air.. Guessed a window strike from the initial conversation – we have a fair number of them tho no raptors to date! We did have a rooster pheasant trying to “get in” one day jumping from the ground! 🙁 Had to go run him off as he was hitting it hard!
You hit that nail squarely on the head, Judy – honors students are generally highly motivated and smart kids so they were a joy to teach, though they do have their own unique challenges.
I can imagine what that was like with the pheasant. I’ve photographed fighting males a couple of times and they really go after each other. I imagine your rooster thought his own reflection in the presumed window was another male.