Cooper's or Sharp Shinned Hawk?

[neepgrin]

Good Day everyone,

I am not too confident in my hawk identifications yet, so could someone please help with this ID?

All the web info i've managed to find indicates this is a Cooper's Hawk. The red eye belonging to that of an 3rd yr adult. Also the contrast between the head cap and nape color is distictive enough to belong to the Cooper's instead of the Sharp Shinned. There was also no "notching" in the tail feathers common to Sharp Shinned.

However, this bird was extremely small for an Adult Cooper's Hawk.



Any comments and help would be appreciated. This is my first year birding and I would like to get it right.

Thanks Linda

[Wetlander]

Hi Linda,
This is my 7th year birding, and I can't figure it out! It does look small on that wire. Blind guess would be small Cooper's. Like you say, that distinctive head and the rounded, longer tail say Cooper's.

[Gord]

Linda, for first year birding you're doing great and looking at the right things on a difficult group of bird species. That kind of eye certainly helps improve the number of these guys you can identify as you know what fieldmarks to look for during what is often a short look.

I think it is a small (male) Cooper's Hawk. The tail looks promising, the legs look thick and the head is pretty good for a Coopers. Even though Sharp-shinned adults have a dark cap too, this one looks like it has a nicely contrasting cap and a pale nape on a less rounded head.

Nice picture and ID!

[neepgrin]

Thanks so much for your help Wetlander and Gord. Cooper's it is. Time to rename the pic and add to my list.

Thanks for the encouragement as well, but it is sites like this and others that offer such great advice, pictures and assistance to make birding rewarding sooner than years later.

Thanks again,

Linda