Two birds crossed my path today. Both two-fisted hard-asses. I wondered who was tougher.
One was a Cooper’s Hawk and the other was a Belted Kingfisher.
The Cooper’s Hawk eats birds for a living so I figured it should be no contest. The Kingfisher’s a bird, therefore a meal. Something to dig into with a beak that’s sharp enough to shear metal.
Then I considered the Kingfisher. You ever look at this killer? It’s built like a linebacker. Its head is too big for its stocky body. Prickly feathers and a spear-like beak for catching fish and frogs.
If birds are modern dinosaurs, which is my view, the Kingfisher’s evidence. And it doesn’t look tasty.
It has a swagger on the wing. A prop-engine fighter from some old black-and-white World War Two movie. The bird’s mostly black and white.
The Cooper’s Hawk, though twice as big, is strangely delicate and flies silently. He hangs around bird feeders, back in the shadows, waiting for a seed eater, worm eater or fruit eater to get careless.
Then he snatches it out of the air. The hawk settles on a nearby branch, bird in hand, and scarfs it down.
This is right out of an old black-and-white monster movie. The beast that ate Tokyo. A Cooper’s Hawk, like the Kingfisher, is mostly black and white in tone.
Both are film noir birds. “Noir” birds. Shadow-colored and dangerous.
There’s a guy I know who asks things like “who’s tougher, a gorilla or a bear?” Or, “Could Rocky take Batman?” Things like that.
Today I found myself doing the same thing. In the morning when I went outside to get our newspaper, I saw the Cooper’s Hawk. Later, I saw the Belted Kingfisher as I drove near a muddy river. Two “noir” birds, and I wondered—who’d win?
I’d put my money on the Cooper’s Hawk. But it wouldn’t be easy. I don’t think he’d even try. Kingfishers look indestructible. And taste like sushi, considering their diet. No self-respecting Cooper’s Hawk likes sushi.
Especially when there are all those tastier birds coming to your feeder.
It’s tough to know who would win in this battle. I think the match up is a little skewed, the Cooper’s Hawk is a definite middleweight. It’s a bit unfair to put him up against the Belted Kingfisher, an obvious featherweight (couldn’t avoid that pun). I think the real match up would be between a Cooper’s Hawk and a Kookaburra.
Thanks!
I love those old Bent accounts. They all used to be available online, but now it’s just that limited selection (just so happened all 3 of those species were included!). If anyone knows where the rest can be accessed, I’d love to know about it.
Hey Grant, thanks for the link to some in-depth reading about these “noir” birds. Not surprised that you’d have this information…
Two-fisted birdwatchers should check out your bird book website:
http://www.birderslibrary.com/
For a more personal take on birding, they might also want to visit your other site: http://www.birdsonthebrain.com/ Both are the real deal.
Don’t know, Coop’s might not be as smart as you think. One has made the attempt at least once, as mentioned in Bent’s Cooper’s Hawk account. And in his kingfisher account, he says “The Cooper’s and the sharp-shinned hawks often pursue it, perhaps largely for sport”.
There’s a great story in the Sharp-shinned Hawk account of a kingfisher possibly baiting the sharpie into chasing it. I could see one doing that, I’m sure kingfishers aren’t too afraid of sharpies. But a Cooper’s? I don’t think one would be crazy enough to tempt fate by doing that to a Coop.