During a period of decline that continued into the 1970s, hawks suffered the same fate as other avian predators, including the bald eagle, with populations that fell within a stone’s throw of extinction due to habitat destruction and other factors such as poisoning from DDT pesticide use. “The Cooper’s hawk used to be really rare,” says Illinois Audubon Society Executive Director Jim Herkert. “It wasn’t that many years ago you would never be able to figure out where to go see a Cooper’s hawk around Illinois, so the fact that people are now seeing them regularly is a testament to how much the population has rebounded.”