On Tuesday, January 7th, a sergeant with the Lewis County Sherriff’s Office contacted Environmental Conservation Officer (ECO) Shana Kraeger to report a hawk trapped in the deli of a local grocery store in the town of Lowville in Northern New York.
Kraeger responded to the store and observed employees guarding the entrance to the deli area and was told by the manager that the bird flew into the grocery through the front sliding door.
ECO Kraeger located the hawk perched on a shelf in a storage area, safely captured it, and then released the bird a short distance from the store where it flew off successfully.
Although it wasn’t identified by DEC, the bird looks to be a mature Cooper’s hawk (Astur cooperii), a medium-sized woodland raptor (such as an owl) that specialize in avian prey.
They have a troubled past, once considered a pest, “a chicken hawk,” they were widely poisoned, trapped and hunted across New York State.
Environmental regulations (including pollution control and wildlife protection) and helped to stabilize the population after it was additionally decimated by DDT until it was outlawed in 1972.
Since the 1980s, Cooper’s hawks have stabilized, in part due to their adaption to human-built environments, including cities.
One Cooper’s hawk was tracked in Tompkins County, NY, running a regular “trap-line” of backyard bird feeders.
The second Breeding Bird Atlas in New York (2000-05) shows an increase in occupancy of 146% since 1980-85.
Read more New York State wildlife rescues here.
Photo of the trapped hawk provided by DEC.
Source link
