Strange bird behavior

The latest Cornell Lab of Ornithology's photo event is to notice and record strange bird behaviors. Doris Lombard of Mountain Center had the luck to get pictures of this unusual behavior of a juvenile Cooper's Hawk in the lovely rain of Sept. 1, the first day of the contest.

Here is the paragraph of the experts' comments on the interesting behavior from their Web site:

Cooper's Hawk Dancing with Stick

The captions to the photos showing this strange behavior mention that it was happening in the rain, and Cooper's Hawks do bathe in the rain, so perhaps some of the antics can be explained this way. This is a juvenile Cooper's Hawk..note the tail feathers without wear and the striped breast, so it may be practicing its grip. Cooper's Hawks squeeze their prey to kill it, which requires a very strong grip. Kevin McGowan from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Education department tells us, 'They are not squeezing like a python squeezes...they are squeezing and trying to puncture the prey.' Surviving on what you can catch and kill is a tough life and many young Cooper's Hawks can't manage it. Practice makes perfect. Birds of North America on line reference tells us that the Cooper's Hawk's long tail makes it well-suited to pursuing prey through the forest, flying under tree limbs, often skimming low and popping up over an obstacle to surprise its prey. Unfortunately many Cooper's Hawks are found with bruised or broken breastbones because of this tactic. Laura Erickson, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Science Editor writes, "Toying with objects probably helps young hawks become more adept at catching and manipulating prey. Cooper's Hawks also build their nests of sticks, so this 'play' may ultimately help this bird build a sounder nest."