Bird of the Week – a Cooper’s Hawk keeps an eye on the culture vultures at the Library of Congress

Cooper's Hawk takes flight. Photo: Abby Brack/Library of Congress

We’ve all seen birds hanging around inside buildings – sometimes they appear to be quite happy to forage around inside for a while – like the recent report of an Indian Mynah bird that was apparently quite content to strut the aisles of a Woolworths supermarket for a few days and the yellow warbler that I heard – and saw – at the Peets Coffee shop near gate 35 of the San Francisco airport last year.

And birds colliding with widows – particularly on large office blocks – are another remarkably common event.  I’ve always been curious as to whether they smash into those buildings because they are trying to get inside or maybe they just didn’t see the glass. Most of us had had some experience with birds coming into the house, usually in the pursuit of a prey species.

But this report on the Library of Congress blog of a Cooper’s Hawk that turned up inside inside the iconic Library of Congress in Washington D.C. takes the cake – not only because of the beauty of the building but also because of the beauty of the bird.

Even if you’ve not been to the Library of Congress you may be familiar with the building from the films “All The President’s Men” and the “National Treasure“, both of which featured the building. The Cooper’s Hawk has been hanging about in the magnificent dome of the building – which is 160 feet in height at its tallest point.

Library of Congress exterior

Cooper’s Hawks Accipiter cooperii are relatively common birds that are common across the 48 mainland US states and prey largely on songbirds and small mammals and are commonly seen perched on telephone poles and inhabit broken woodlands and deciduous streamside groves. They are mid-sized raptors, with a length of 36 to 51 cm and a wingspan ranging between 74 to 94 cm. Judging by the plumage the bird inside the Library of Congress appears to be a juvenile – so it may have flown in as a result of inexperience.

Cooper's Hawk with cherubs and an angel. Mural by Edwin Blashfield. Photo: Abby Brack/Library of Congress

As Matt Raymond noted in his post at The Library of Congress blog, the Cooper’s Hawk:

…recently got into the Library’s majestic Main Reading Room, and has been winging about ever since. It was first noticed by a patron looking dome-ward yesterday afternoon…Naturally, this event has prompted many questions, the most obvious of which being: How on Earth did a Cooper’s Hawk get into the Main Reading Room of the Library of Congress?!

And just to prove that not all Librarians are boring people with glasses and no sense of humour, Matt Raymond shows that librarians in the most prestigious library in the US can see a little humour in what is an awkward situation:

Have you tried to get it down?

The same Library staffer used the same iPhone app to play an audio clip of the call of a Cooper’s Hawk in order to lure it down, but to no avail.

Surely you can’t be serious. Have you really tried to get it down?

I am serious. And don’t call me Shirley.

…

What other steps are you taking?

You mean aside from several very fast steps and hitting the deck if it dive-bombs us? We immediately took steps to analyze a safe approach to handle the situation with minimum disruption to patrons. We are calling in experts from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, a division of the Department of the Interior, to continue the efforts to safely return it to the outdoors. It is possible that the bird is an endangered species.

Now that you mention it, has it dive-bombed anyone?

That was purely hypothetical. It seems to be an agreeable enough bird. It’s not ruffling our patrons’ feathers, and they aren’t bothering it either. To them, the whole situation is like water off a duck’s back.

How is the bird doing?

The reading room was open until 9 p.m. yesterday, and staff checked on the bird throughout the night. It remains in the reading room at this hour, and it appears to be in good health.

So you’re not feeding it any mice?

No, and no bookworms either.

How much do you think the bird is worth?

Once we get it in hand, I would say it’s worth at least two in the bush. Or at least that’s what the Geico commercial says.

Cooper's Hawk in flight. Photo Abby Brack /Library of Congress

And the bird caught the eye of the local Washington Post, where a representative of the Library of Congress said:

“We’ve had birds fly in here before, but I don’t think we’ve ever had a predator,” the Library of Congress representative said. “We have to lure the bird out, but the problem the Cooper’s Hawk likes their food to be on the hoof. I’m not sure we will release live pigeon or mouse in here.” The Fish and Wildlife Services will likely be tasked with getting the hawk out, though many area falconers have also offered their services.

You can follow the progress of this magnificent hawk – and learn a bit more about this fascinating building at the Library of Congress Facebook page here or on Twitter at @librarycongress.