Active Cooper’s Hawk Chicks

The three Cooper’s Hawk chicks were very active this morning.  They are growing very rapidly and in need of more space than the nest affords.  They were stretching their wings, wandering about the edge of the nest and even branching out (left bird).  Their mother was perched a few feet below the nest and may have left food for them, earlier in the morning, on the back of the nest. In the photo above the youngest one (white downy head) is flanked by its two older siblings. Even though they all look about the same size, there could be between 3 and 6 days difference between the oldest and youngest. Female are larger than males and that may account for the similarities in size.