Why my yard is littered with pigeon feathers.

This is "2 over W", a five-year-old male Cooper's hawk. (For more about Cooper's hawks in Seattle, see this previous post.) This hawk was banded as a juvenile in Woodland Park Zoo, says bird researcher Jack Bettesworth. Since then, "2 over W" stuck around the north end of Seattle. Bettesworth has had reports of sightings from the zoo, Woodland Park and east of Green Lake. I first noticed him hunting near my house at 4 p.m. yesterday afternoon. By 7 p.m., he was perched in a shrub, dismembering his prey.

Meet "C over K"

I spotted this character chasing pigeons near my house.

He's a juvenile Cooper's hawk. His blue bracelet (which has the letter "C" over the letter "K") comes from Jack Bettesworth, who studies Seattle's Cooper's Hawks. I emailed Bettesworth to find out more about the bird.
He replied within an hour.
"Great news that this bird has survived the winter and appears to be doing well. As you may well know the first year is the most difficult for them. It appears that he has a bit of a crop and may have recently eaten. Most likely he (a male) is not a breeding bird this year at about 9 months old, though it is possible... He is from a nest in Ravenna Park last summer and was banded on 7/26/08. He was later seen at “the Fill” in late September. And now, there in Ballard."
Bettesworth has been studying these urban predators since 2002. He became interested in them after one snatched a kestrel out of a keeper's hands at the Woodland Park Zoo. He wants to hear about any sightings of banded Cooper's hawks or sharp-shinned hawks in the Seattle area. You can find his contact information through the Washington Ornithological Society
Female Cooper's hawks have blue bands too, but on the left leg, and sharp-shinned hawks have color-coded bands, with males banded on the right and females on the left.