The Annual Can of Worms

[micpic]

I'll say Coopers, you'll say Sharp-Shined. Which ever for a juvinile it's eating well!

[Jim Almquist]

Very cool !

Were you in a blind ?

[mixxedbagg]

I generally expect only Sharp-shinned Hawks in winter, but I'm farther north than you. I've also read that very thin legs are a Sharp-shinned Hawk mark. I'd put my money on SSH before CH on this one.

[micpic]

I leaned around the side of the garage to get that shot because my window was froze over and stuck. It had just finished up on a Junco. There are two hawks hunting the feeders so maybe I'll be able to get some shots that show better features. Size, legs, tail, eyes, and shape are some of the tell tale I.D's on them but they are still hard to differ!

Mike

[Raider4ever]

Boreal, you gotta chime in on this.

[MN Shutterbug]

Size is the most notable difference. A Coopers is almost 50% larger than a Sharp-shinned. actually, a Blue Jay is even a bit larger than a sharpie.

Birdsong just recently had a sharpie dining on a bird in her backyard and a cooper came along to try and steal his lunch. Unfortunately, the dog scared the cooper away. That would have been cool to witness.

[bird watcher]

Mic;

Here is one that landed on my waterer yesterday while I was out shooting. I said it was a coopers but maybe I am wrong.

Jason

[Note from admin: Please don't send folks to unauthorized sites. Post your photo directly here please.]

[micpic]

Welcome to HSO Jason. That's a super photo of your hawk. I'm still working hard to get better at I.D. ing these. According to what I'm reading, long, skinny legs are a Sharp-shinned trait, but that could be just the way it's perched. Size is the best clue and a Sharpie is'nt much bigger than a Kestril. I'm almost sure what I see around here are Coopers, more the size of a Crow. Until I get enough pictures and sightings, I still will be somewhat confused. I sent the photo I posted here to Cornell and they said as best they could tell, it was a Coopers. Noting that the bars on the breast were narrower. My final clue though was I saw the bird and it was too big to be a Sharpie. Hope this helps a little!