Watch for hawks — SLC's friendly urban superpredators
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A Cooper's hawk in Dimple Dell Park in Sandy. Photo courtesy of Tom Jones
If you see a pile of blood-soaked snow in your neighborhood this winter, don't call 911 right away. It might be the work of your friendly neighborhood hawk.
The big picture: Hawks have adapted well to cities in recent decades, with some evidence that the urban birds are out-competing their rural neighbors.
What we have: Cooper's, red-tailed and sharp-shinned hawks have been the most-seen species in Salt Lake during the annual Christmas bird counts.
Heads up: If you pay attention, you can see their wild-kingdom hunting shows around Salt Lake.
- We asked for your close encounters a couple of weeks ago, and lots of you sent back photos and stories.
What you're saying: "We have one that visits every couple of months," wrote Donaree N., who sometimes spots "Mr. Hawk" stalking the other guests at her heated birdbath in Holladay. "We know he's here! Every once in a while we'll see some feathers dropping from the pine tree. That tells us he's found his lunch."
- A sharp-shinned hawk has been showing up at reader Michelle M.K.'s bird feeding station and frequents the nearby Mick Riley golf course in Murray.
- Eric R. spotted a Cooper's hawk in his apple tree in Sugar House after noticing his squirrel neighbors had disappeared. Readers Laura K. and W. Cleve B. also tend to find hawks in southern Davis County when the other wildlife scatters.
- In the upper Avenues, a nesting pair of Cooper's hawks has raised two or three chicks for each of the past seven years, methodically teaching them to fly and hunt, reports Jack B. "We have had youngsters perched on our front porch rail looking at their reflection in our window and seen adults demonstrating prey dissection on the back lawn (kind of gruesome)."
- Reader Marta L. has been greeting a pair of hawks in the box elder grove near her home in Midvale each year since 2021. She watched their fledglings learn to fly and hunt — and sent one to a wildlife rescue when it was injured.
Pro tip: Photographer Tom Jones tells us he's increasingly noticed Cooper's hawks during the past few months in the east end of Sandy's Dimple Dell Park.
- He also shared this photo of a sharp-shinned hawk snacking in his backyard.
My thought bubble: A couple of years ago, a neighbor and I found ourselves whooping like rodeo fans as two hawks — an adult and a juvenile — repeatedly dive-bombed smaller birds in the sky.
- The prey escaped, leaving the hawks with a healthy appetite (we hope) for rodents.