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The Cooper’s Hawk: Life Beyond the Forest | Speaker: Craig Nikitas
On Saturday, February 28, 2026, at 7 pm, the Friends of San Pedro Valley Park are pleased to welcome back Craig Nikitas, a wildlife volunteer working with raptors for over fifty years. On a Zoom webinar, he will present his lecture entitled “The Cooper’s Hawk: Life Beyond the Forest.” This presentation will examine in detail what has become one of our most common Bay Area raptor species. The taxonomy, natural history and life cycle of this fierce avian predator will be discussed, and observable characteristics of form, plumage, and behavior will be reviewed so that attendees can improve their identification skills. We hope to enable observers to distinguish the two sexes and two age groups of Cooper’s Hawks from other species, especially the similar Sharp-shinned Hawk. The talk will conclude with a short overview of hazards this raptor faces in its proximity to humans, and some brief anecdotes about rescues from these hazards.