Re: help for ID
Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2022 11:13 am
Lots of info from the American Kestrel Partnership about this bird. It's an adult Coopers Hawk.
"This is an adult Cooper's Hawk. Your photos made our job pretty easy, as you captured all of the main field marks we look for to identify this species!
The proportionally long tail and broad rounded wings make this a member of the group of hawks known as the Accipiters. We have three Accipiters in North America: the Sharp-shinned Hawk, Cooper's Hawk, and Northern Goshawk. The blue-gray back and red-and-white horizontal barring on your bird's chest narrow our choices down to an adult (at least one year old) "Sharpie" or "Coop." (All North American Accipiters have vertical streaking on the chest as immatures, and adult Northern Goshawks have gray barring on the chest, not red.)
Sharp-shinned Hawks have proportionally large eyes and a less prominent bony ridge above the eye, giving them a "bug-eyed" impression. Additionally, the darker gray on the head extends down the nape of the neck, and the tail feathers are all the same length, giving the impression of a squared-off tail. Your bird, on the other hand, has proportionally small eyes and a prominent brow ridge, resulting in a "fiercer" look. The dark gray on the head is limited to just a "cap" on top of the head, and the outer tail feathers are shorter than the middle ones, resulting in a more rounded-off tail. These are all Cooper's Hawk traits!
The bird's age can be further narrowed down by the color of the eye: as "Coops" and "Sharpies" age, the eye deepens in color to orange or even blood-red. With this bird having a lighter yellow-orange eye, it's likely on the younger side (~1–3 years old), though eye color can be highly variable.
Cooper's Hawks (like most Accipiters) prey mainly on birds, so this bird may well take a literal bite out of your excess sparrow population if it hangs around for any length of time. The rats are a little safer, but "Coops" do take mammals on occasion so they might help on that front as well."
"This is an adult Cooper's Hawk. Your photos made our job pretty easy, as you captured all of the main field marks we look for to identify this species!
The proportionally long tail and broad rounded wings make this a member of the group of hawks known as the Accipiters. We have three Accipiters in North America: the Sharp-shinned Hawk, Cooper's Hawk, and Northern Goshawk. The blue-gray back and red-and-white horizontal barring on your bird's chest narrow our choices down to an adult (at least one year old) "Sharpie" or "Coop." (All North American Accipiters have vertical streaking on the chest as immatures, and adult Northern Goshawks have gray barring on the chest, not red.)
Sharp-shinned Hawks have proportionally large eyes and a less prominent bony ridge above the eye, giving them a "bug-eyed" impression. Additionally, the darker gray on the head extends down the nape of the neck, and the tail feathers are all the same length, giving the impression of a squared-off tail. Your bird, on the other hand, has proportionally small eyes and a prominent brow ridge, resulting in a "fiercer" look. The dark gray on the head is limited to just a "cap" on top of the head, and the outer tail feathers are shorter than the middle ones, resulting in a more rounded-off tail. These are all Cooper's Hawk traits!
The bird's age can be further narrowed down by the color of the eye: as "Coops" and "Sharpies" age, the eye deepens in color to orange or even blood-red. With this bird having a lighter yellow-orange eye, it's likely on the younger side (~1–3 years old), though eye color can be highly variable.
Cooper's Hawks (like most Accipiters) prey mainly on birds, so this bird may well take a literal bite out of your excess sparrow population if it hangs around for any length of time. The rats are a little safer, but "Coops" do take mammals on occasion so they might help on that front as well."