Hawk I.D. Help

[micpic]

I think this is a female Cooper's Hawk from it's size and shorter tail. I may be wrong. If it's a Sharpshined what is the tip-off.

Mic

Oh by the way. It said it was run off Birdsongs place!

[Jim Almquist]

All I know is that it looks great with those piercing eyes.

[Nymph]

Broad-winged Hawk?

[LPCrowRiverFisherman]

Juvenile Sharp-Shinned?

[grey ghost]

I'd agree with you that it's a Cooper's because of the rounded bottom of the tail. A sharp shinned should have a square tail and a broad winged hawk's wings should be longer i believe

[Steve Foss]

For sure not a broad-winged. Cooper's for me too.

[buzzsaw]

Okay guys, here is the Coopers Hawk I chase around.... whatcha think now?

Here is a Rough Legged from the last few weeks as well.

(they have many different looks)

Do these pics help the guessing process? I was hoping they would.

[Dotch]

Um, your Cooper's hawk looks a lot warmer than the one from mcpic? Good to see you and your great photos back again Buzz. Did you burn all your Gopher hockey stuff after this weekend? I vote Cooper's hawk as well. Have had both in the yard and the rounded tail looks like the best clue so far.

[Steve Foss]

Relative tail length is also a reliable field mark to help separate perched Cooper's from sharp-shinneds, as mic mentioned.

[buzzsaw]

OUCH! Nope, still a fan of "the" program.

[Dotch]

Relative tail length is also a reliable field mark to help separate perched Cooper's from sharp-shinneds, as mic mentioned.

OK, dumb question, but since I don't have my Sibley's here at work, which tail is longer relative to body size? I haven't memorized all that stuff yet and am too lazy to dig it out of Google!

BTW Buzz, I haven't burned my Gopher gear just yet either. Just hope Donnie's OK.

[Steve Foss]

Dotch, feel free to burn your Gopher gear! What can I say? I went to UND and my Dad covered Sioux Hockey for 35 years.

The sharp-shinned's tail is relatively shorter than the Cooper's hawk, and the Cooper's eyes are farther forward toward the bill while the s-s eyes are located more centrally on the head.

[Borealhunter]

My impression of the immature accipter is a Sharp-shinned Hawk due to the fact is has a small head and looks smaller overall for a Cooper's Hawk.

Cooper's tail length is longer and has more of a blunt end like a Raven's tail but the best identification for a adult Cooper's as pictured in Mike's photo is that Cooper's have a dark hood and squarish/blocky head while Sharp-shinned Hawks have rounder heads and do not have a very pronounce dark crown to the head.

Immature accipiters (Cooper's Sharp-shinned and Goshawk) are tough to ID in the field and having quality photos like the above photos really help to make identifications.

[Steve Foss]

Cool. I definitely defer to the pro on that one.

[Dotch]

Boy I dunno...what school did he go to? I too always defer to the pro's on these deals. Bet I could give him a run for his money on soybean aphids though.

Pretty tough for me to burn all my Gopher gear after their slight misstep over the weekend Steve. They liked me so much at the U that they even kept me around for a couple extra quarters. And after working amongst the ND missile silos and watching the big birds (B-52's) flying low over my truck for 3 years the Sioux fans tried but still couldn't turn me!

[jonny_redhorse]

I photographed (digiscoped) this hawk early last spring on a cold grey day(not the best photos for sure)....sharp-shinned or coopers.....not entirely sure...the eyes aren't bright yellow but maybe just poor lighting that day....

[Birdsong]

Oh by the way. It said it was run off Birdsongs place!

Yay!!! It's about time he went to somebody else's yard. Interesting to hear your analyses of the differences everyone. Now I'm not at all sure what has been hanging out here. I just assumed, as the s-s is more common. You guys would let me know if I had my head up--(well you know,) wouldn't you? Nice photo micpic--except his head is on backwards. You get carried away in Photoshop? Would the yellow eyes be indicitive of a Coopers or a juve s-s? My guys eyes are neon orange.

[Steve Foss]

Jonny, looks like you've got a merlin there, not a sharp-shinned or Cooper's.

[jonny_redhorse]

I've neen "merlinized"!.....no wonder the eyes aren't yellow... ....Thanks Steve!....

[micpic]

Wow! I think we all may have learned something now. I googled Sharp Shinned versus Cooper's Hawk and found a blog where a person pointed out the same identification clues BorealHunter gave. That and Buzzsaw's great image made that alot clearer.

Why it's so difficult to chose which is which is a female Sharp Shinned will be about the same size as a male Cooper's. Thanks for all the help. Now I'll see if I can find something else that confuses me!

MicPic

[buzzsaw]

Okay, one more clue. Here is a juvenile Goshawk.

[buzzsaw]

I've been informed by a friend (who knows ALOT more than me) that its a 2nd or 3rd year sub adult Coopers Hawk.

[Steve Foss]

Those darn accipiters! Who do they think they are, anyway, being so hard to tell apart!

[Borealhunter]

Buzz's friend is probably using the color of the iris to age the adult Cooper's Hawk. The older the bird the darker red the iris becomes and this is true with all accipiters.

Jonny I like your photos of the Merlin. Merlins are falcons. You can see the mustache below the eye. The photo depicts a male Merlin because females are brownish.

Have a good day.

[jonny_redhorse]

Thanks Mike,...I dug through some of last years images and found what I thought was either a sharp-shinned or a coopers...these guys are hard to tell apart for sure...well....hard for me anyways ..here's a couple images...