Immature Cooper’s Hawk Photo-Artistry by kenne
“Until the mid-twentieth century, Cooper’s hawks were hunted as vermin. Indeed the farmer considered this
“chicken hawk” one of his primary foes. The Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 changed all that and became
Cooper’s hawk’s protection when it was amended in 1972 to include raptors, making it illegal to kill a raptor
or take their eggs or even their feathers. During that same period, chicken farming evolved to the current system
in which the chickens are better protected in environmentally controlled facilities; even the suburban farmer
with a backyard coop now focuses on other means of protection than his shotgun.
The beleaguered Cooper’s hawk of the early twentieth century became an endangered species in many states,
and the use of pesticides in the period after World War II further decimated the hawk. However, with the cessation
of some of the more harmful pesticides, a slow but steady increase in the number of breeding pairs began
in the 1960s to 1970s. Now, the population has recovered, and the species thrives once more.
Today, instead of regarding the hawk as a “blood-thirsty villain,” it is more fashionable to focus on
Cooper’s hawk’s admirable traits: his agility and speed, his hunting prowess, and his feisty attitude.
So now, we are more tolerant of his appetite for avian prey.” Source: coopershawks.com
Becoming is Superior to Being 
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