Urban Almanac: Cooper's Hawk thriving in Houston

The Cooper’s Hawk thrives in a range of climates — especially in an urbanized area like Houston — where you'll find many pigeons. These birds enjoy preying on pigeons, but an all-pigeon diet may not be the best decision for urban hawks. It can lead to more infections for them compared to rural hawks, according to Houston Parks Board Conservation Technician Ethan Placke.“



These birds have had the nickname “chicken hawks” for a very long time, due to people observing them preying upon their chickens. While this does happen, these birds don’t necessarily prefer chicken so much as taking birds like doves and pigeons on the wing. They will predate a very large variety of creatures other than birds — from rodents and even insects — all the way up to things that are chicken-ish sized,” writes Placke.