Hawks prefer to eat rodents and rabbits for the main part of their diet, however, your crows may have been taking cover while the hawk was in the area just to be safe. Accipiters such as the Cooper’s Hawk, primarily feed on birds, but also can take small mammals like cottontail rabbits and squirrels. These raptors rocket in with talons-out, surprise attacks on birds that eat seeds. All raptors are carnivorous and eat only meat. Well, Charles Pruit, as I say in my reply to the answer already posted, there are no true “ sea hawks". By “buzzard” do you mean the kind of scavenger bird commonly called a “buzzard” in North America? A soaring hawk can be majestic to see over the yard, but some of the glamour is lost when birders realize hawks eat birds and may be hunting favorite backyard species. Besides large mammals, other raptors (a classification for birds with sharp beaks and talons and keen eyesight) pose a threat to hawks and sometimes even eat them. Hawks are the birds of prey that not only feeds on small mammals, rodents, lizards, and snakes, but also on other small and mid-sized birds species that can be seen in their surroundings. Indeed, sharp-shinned (left) and, especially, Cooper’s hawks have adapted so well to human-altered habitats that they now are common at bird feeders nationwide. Source: thespruce.com. Sometimes the young birds end up being food. Owls and hawks are for example, deadly enemies since they are often competing for the same prey and nesting sites. 0 0. What do hawks eat? Different families of raptors catch and consume a variety of prey. Yes, hawks do eat crows and other birds in some cases, but most birds are too wary to be caught. First you need to clarify your term. Many birders prefer to protect their backyard birds from hawks rather than contribute to a predator’s meals. At a quick glance, they resemble gulls, but they have predatory habits that resemble true hawks. There are however, Jaegers, and Skuas. Well, my first thought was “because they’re hungry.” But as Steve Schafer eloquently explains, it’s a bit more complicated (and elegant) than that. This is actually a Turkey Vulture. And no, most hawks and other birds of prey leave them alone. read more.