Rousing after the bath = happiness

Cooper's Hawk, Central Park, 3/05
Photo by Lloyd Spitalnik http://www.lloydspitalnikiphotos.com


In yesterday's post Chris Lyons described a Van Cortlandt Park Cooper's Hawk standing and meditating in a puddle. "My best guess is that the hawk came down for a drink, and stayed there a while because it simply liked the sensation of the cool water on its feet, " he wrote.

John Blakeman has some light to cast on Chris's puddle-stander. He writes:


About Cooper’s hawks: These birds MUST bathe, usually each day. They have a genetic or behavioral impulsion to get in the water and do a complete dousing. I'm certain that’s what Chris saw with the Cooper’s in the puddle.

The vast majority of Cooper’s hawks nests are found within just a hundred yards or so of a small stream or pond. These birds prefer to bathe each day, and after doing so will fly up into a nearby tree and carefully shake out the water from their feathers, similar to the way a dog shakes off the water in it’s fur after emerging from a swim. Falconers term this feather-shaking as “rousing.” A hawk that rouses is known to be in good health, feeling secure and un-threatened by anything in the immediate environment. A hawk that rouses is a happy hawk, and Cooper’s hawk that rouses after it’s bath is particularly happy – so much so that it often sits and contemplates life for a time. That’s about the only time that Cooper’s hawks just sit and ponder, when they are drying and preening themselves after the bath.