Cooper's Hawk Photo Gallery by Chris P. at pbase.com

Cooper's Hawk

I believe this is a juvenile Cooper's Hawk. It was a small hawk, slighter smaller than a crow. Like the Cooper, it has a white terminal tail band and a reddish cast on side of head and nape. It seems to have the tubular shape of a Cooper'r rather than the broad chest and narrow hips of a sharpie. Some have said it has the spindly legs and coarse feather streaking that extends the full length of the breast found in Sharpie's.
Please leave a comment if you know or have an opinion on which it is.

Cooper's Hawk Juvenile	Cooper's Hawk Juvenile	Cooper's Hawk Juvenile	Cooper's Hawk Juvenile
Cooper's Hawk Juvenile	Cooper's Hawk Juvenile	Cooper's Hawk Juvenile	Cooper's Hawk Adult
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Robin Hood		14-Jul-2006 02:52
...awesome gallery...unable to pick one shot as a favorite...)) Cheers !

Daniel Sarrazin		07-May-2006 03:56
A very nice collections of great pictures.

Allen Fish		08-Feb-2006 06:12
Beautiful photos -- can I use them for classes? This is a juv male Cooper's Hawk. There are a few Sharpie characters however -- the hackles are not raised which Coopers often show when excited or when approached by a photographer; the legs look thin; and that's a heckuv an eye stripe (superciliary) for a Coop (more common on Sharpshin and Gos). On the Coop side, the breast streaks are thin and sparse, however at GGRO we've seen Sharpshins with sparse streaking like this. They're just uncommon. The big tip, as has been pointed out is that tailtip, nicely graduated and with the outer tail looking like it's a full centimeter short of the innermost. ALSO, look at the way the eye sits more toward the beak than the middle of the head. Sharpie eyes look, as Bob wrote, surprised, but also they hang back more in the center of the side view of the head. Again, beautiful photos -- thanks for posting them.

Guest		08-Feb-2006 02:34
Cooper's Hawk, juvenile.

John Schick		07-Feb-2006 17:16
Rich, I go with Cooper's hawk. The neck seems longer than it would be in a sharpie and as Sibley says, the streaks on a Coopers are thin dark. Sharpie is coarse dark. Good photos. I have had a sharpie in my yard the past three days and it has been fun to see the bird every morning.

Guest		07-Feb-2006 17:11
Coopers. A male. J Cook

Rich		07-Feb-2006 16:48
Body shape and streaking are not diagnostic on this individual. Fortunately, the last photo shows the eye appears dramatically closer to the beak relative to the center of the head. This is Definitly a cooper's.

Terry Colborn		07-Feb-2006 15:17
I would also call this a juvenile Cooper's. Bob hit the key marks, including the large head and the long, rounded tail. The proportion of the head to the body is also good for Cooper's; a Sharpie's head would appear smaller, and more rounded. I'm curious if you ever saw this bird fly? These photos do point out that these two species can be very tricky to ID, especially as juveniles.

Cheryl		07-Feb-2006 12:15
I agree - Cooper's. The longish rounded tail does it for me. - Cheryl Johnson, Loomis, CA.

Guest		07-Feb-2006 06:49
Coopers. Look at the round tail, if you were not sure. Sharp shins are tiny. Karl G Kerster

Bob Power		07-Feb-2006 06:21
Chris, Several traits speak more to Coop than Sharpie. The legs are thin, but thats misleading. Likewise the streaking. The head structure in most shots is blockish rather than rounded. The eye positioning and "look" in most shots is Fierce rather than surprised. The iris color is yellow, rather than orange-yellow. Tail is long and rounded rather than short and squared. My vote is for Cooper's Hawk. Best, Bob Power -- Oakland, CA

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