Pro tip: I put a shallow clay saucer on the ground for water, and a Cooper's hawk used it as a bird bath.

I placed a basic 14-inch clay plant saucer near my shrubs in Denver, hoping to attract sparrows with a ground-level water source. Instead, a juvenile Cooper's hawk landed and spent 10 minutes splashing around, which scared off every other bird for the rest of the day. Does providing ground water actually make your yard more dangerous for the smaller birds you're trying to help?

3 comments

3 Comments

andrew9162mo agoTop Commenter

Could it just be a cool hawk bath now?

the_val2mo ago

What if it's just a bird bath now? Like, the hawk moved on. It happens. My neighbor had a cool owl that used their fountain for a month, then it was gone. Now it's just a regular water feature for sparrows. Maybe the hawk found a better spot.

the_fiona7d ago

My cousin out in Arizona actually saw a hawk use the same window ledge for three years straight, same bird came back every spring. She set up a little camera and watched it raise two broods there, so sometimes they get attached to a spot. But the thing nobody mentions is that hawks will leave if the prey base dries up, like if the neighborhood cats or squirrels get smart and stop coming around. Maybe that's what happened here, the food source moved on before the hawk did...