(CN) - A Cooper's hawk has been using crosswalk signals to orchestrate its hunting strategy, outsmarting both its prey and urban infrastructure, according to research published Friday in Frontiers in Ethology.
The study, conducted by Dr. Vladimir Dinets, research assistant professor at the University of Tennessee, documented how the Cooper's hawk in a Tennessee neighborhood learned to associate pedestrian crossing signals with changes in traffic patterns, then used stopped vehicles as tactical cover during its hunting expeditions.
"The hawk always attacked when the car queue was long enough to provide cover all the way to the small tree, and that only happened after someone had pressed the pedestrian crossing button," Dinets wrote in his findings. "As soon as the sound signal was activated, the raptor would fly from somewhere into the small tree, wait for the cars to line up, and then strike."
The behavior represents what researchers call "cognitive flexibility" - the ability to rapidly adapt to circumstances and solve problems in creative ways. The display of intelligence surprised even Dinets, who specializes in animal behavior.
He first noticed the behavior while driving his daughter to school. The intersection near his home wasn't busy during morning rush hour, but when pedestrians activated the crosswalk signal, it caused the traffic light to remain red longer, creating a queue of cars.
The hawk used this extended traffic lineup to its advantage, flying low along the sidewalk beside the stopped cars before making a sharp turn between vehicles to attack birds feeding on breadcrumbs and food scraps near a home. Its targets included sparrows, doves and sometimes starlings.
"The bird also had to have a good mental map of the place, because when the car queue reached its tree, the raptor could no longer see the place where its prey was and had to get there by memory," Dinets said.
This level of spatial awareness and understanding of cause-and-effect relationships reveals an adaptation to human-created environments, for a species not typically known for problem-solving abilities comparable to corvids or parrots.
According to Dinets, the bird likely migrated to the urban area just weeks before his observations began.
"Next winter, I saw a hawk in adult plumage hunt in exactly the same way, and I'm pretty sure it was the same bird," Dinets said.
The Cooper's hawk is known for its short, rounded wings and long tail, which help it maneuver through dense forests while hunting birds and small mammals. It has a steely blue-gray back, reddish-barred chest and piercing red eyes as an adult.
Urban environments present numerous challenges for birds of prey. "A city is a difficult and very dangerous habitat for any bird, but particularly for a large raptor specializing in live prey: you have to avoid windows, cars, utility wires and countless other dangers while catching something to eat every day," Dinets said.
Dinets' interest in such behaviors began years ago during a visit to Ngorongoro Crater in Africa, where a local guide told him about buffalo that had "figured out the meaning of car turn signals and used that understanding to get out of the way of turning Jeeps and Land Rovers." While he couldn't verify that particular claim, it sparked his interest in studying how animals interact with human vehicles and infrastructure.
The Cooper's hawk is among a select group of raptor species that have adapted to urban settings. Dinets suggests that cognitive flexibility is the key to their survival.
"I think my observations show that Cooper's hawks manage to survive and thrive there, at least in part, by being very smart," he said.
The study, titled "Street smarts: a remarkable adaptation in a city-wintering raptor," was published May 23 in Frontiers in Ethology.
Source: Courthouse News Service
