The Cooper’s Hawk is almost exclusively a bird eating bird, so much so that Male Cooper’s hawks have to watch out for the females. In birds of prey, the male is often smaller than the female, and in Cooper’s Hawks, the male is small enough that the female could call him lunch if he isn’t careful.

If you have a couple minutes to spare, check out a section of the video. If you have 15 minutes to spare, definitely watch the whole thing.

What bird would you like to see next? Let us know!

Shape: Perching
Size: Extra Small

Description:

The Pacific-slope Flycatcher (Empidonax difficilis) is a small insectivorous bird of the family Tyrannidae. It is native to coastal regions of western North America, including the Pacific Ocean and the southern Sea of Cortez, as far north as British Columbia and southern Alaska, but is replaced in the inland regions by the Cordilleran Flycatcher. These two species were formerly considered a single species known as Western Flycatcher. In winter, both species migrate south to Mexico, where they are virtually indistinguishable from one another.

- from Wikipedia

Shape: Perching
Size: Very Small

Description:

The Wrentit (Chamaea fasciata) is a small bird that lives in chaparral and bushland.

The Wrentit is a small, 15 centimetres (5.9 in) bird with uniform dull olive, brown, or grayish plumage. It has short wings and a long tail often held high (hence the comparison to wrens). It has a short bill and a pale iris. Given its retiring nature and loud voice, the Wrentit is more likely to be detected by its call than by sight. The distinct sound that it makes is similar to the sound of a ping-pong ball falling on the table.

-from Wikipedia

What bird would you like to see next? Let us know in the comments.

Shape: Perching
Size: Small
Description:

The Black Phoebe (Sayornis nigricans) is a passerine bird in the tyrant-flycatcher family. It breeds from southwest Oregon and California south through Central and South America. It occurs year-round throughout most of its range and migrates less than the other birds in its genus, though its northern populations are partially migratory.

The Black Pheobe has predominately black plumage, with a white belly and undertail coverts. The sexes are identical in color, and juveniles have brown feather tips and brown wing-bars. Its song is a repeated tee-hee, tee ho. It lives in a variety of habitats but is always near water. It is mainly insectivorous, and waits on a perch before flying out and catching its prey in the air. It makes an open cup nest which is placed under a cliff or a bridge and cemented in its place with mud.

- from Wikipedia

Great-Horned Owl Mom and Chick waiting for Dad to return with food. Photo by Ken Bosma

The Great-Horned Owl dad puts in an epic effort every nesting season. Great-Horned Owls are one of the earliest breeding birds in North America. They start nesting in January or February, meaning that in many places the eggs could freeze if left unattended. Mom needs to stay on the nest and Dad needs to bring home the squirrel, or mouse, or rat, or even skunk! Great-Horned Owls are the only bird that regularly feeds on skunks. Yum!

But it doesn’t stop there…

Feeding his mate is no small task. Unlike humans, female owls are larger than the males. This is true in most owls and raptors (hawks and eagles) as well. So dad starts the nesting season hunting in the winter to feed himself and his mate, who is about 25% larger than he is.

When the two to three chicks hatch, he has to hunt even more. For the first few weeks he has to feed all of the hungry mouths back at the nest by himself. This is because the chicks can’t maintain their own body heat and would freeze to death if mom were to leave. After the first month, the chicks are finally large enough that mom can help with the feeding too. She really needs to help, the chicks can eat as much as a quarter of their body weight every single day.

Once the babies are old enough, usually around 6 weeks, they leave the nest. They can’t really fly for another month, and even after they do, they keep bugging mom and dad for handouts. Young Great-horned Owls have been seen begging for food as late as October, 5 months after leaving the nest!

This Father’s Day, we’d like to thank all of our hard working fathers who kept us fed and took care of us after we left the nest, just like the Great-Horned Owl.

Adapted in part from The National Wildlife Federation. Photo by Ken Bosma

Does the Great-Horned Owl remind you of your dad? Let us know your favorite Dad story in our comments below!