_{^{Cooper's Hawk in flight. Photo: Lloyd Spitalnik}}

Don Riepe, NYC Bird Alliance Advisory Council Member and Former Board Member | August 28, 2025

The Cooper’s Hawk is one of the City’s most striking raptors. Also known as the big blue darter, striker, chicken hawk, and flying cross, the Cooper’s has short, broad wings and a long, narrow tail, ideal for maneuvering in woodlands. In flight, their square heads project beyond their wings, giving them a signature cross-like appearance when mid-air.

After facing continent-wide decline in the mid-1900s due to the use of DDT, a pesticide which caused egg-shell thinning and reproductive failure, Cooper's Hawk populations have returned and are now considered a species of low conservation concern. However, Cooper’s Hawks are no exception to the lethal threats that face all urban raptors: 70% of Cooper’s Hawk deaths in urban areas are caused by collisions, according to Cornell Lab of Ornithology. And given their opportunistic nature, they’ll hunt birds but also ambush small mammals such as rats and mice, increasing their risk of rodenticide poisoning and highlighting the urgent need for safer, more effective methods of rodent control.

While Cooper’s Hawks can be spotted in New York City throughout the year, fall migration is the best time to see them as they migrate south on days with strong northwest winds. If you want to see large numbers of raptors this fall, travel to Cape May, NJ where you can see hundreds—even thousands—in a day if conditions are right. There are also many excellent hawk-watching areas within a close drive of the City, including the Greenwich Audubon Center, where organization partner National Audubon Society holds an annual Hawk Watch Festival in late September. But for local action, one of the best places to view these raptors is between mid-September and mid-October along the coast of Fort Tilden at Breezy Point, Queens, atop a hawk-watch platform on the bunker in Battery Harris East.