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Re: Hawk ID



These birds were in Buncombe County.  The were in residential woods adjacent
to a pond in south end of Biltmore Forest by the Blue Ridge Parkway.  Elev
?2300 feet.  The Yahoo briefcase is a useful tool to post photos.

The tally of votes was:
Coooper's Hawk 10
Sharp-shinned Hawk 3
Accipiter sp. 1
Red Shouldered Hawk 1
Goshawk 1
Red Tailed hawk 1

Most of the detailed comments supported Cooper's.  Comments as follows:
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Looks like an immature Cooper's Hawk with a slightly odd head color.
Definitely accipiter, but it's too stocky & flat-headed for a Sharpie (plus
the legs aren't toothpick-like enough, nor are the eyes large enough in
proportion to the head), completely wrong for an immature Gos, and it does
have the pale collar, finely streaked undercarriage, a substantial white tip
to the tail and the right size and facial profile for Cooper's.

Wheeler & Clark's _Photographic Guide to NA Raptors_ says that juvenile
Cooper's Hawks "often have a tawny cast to head & neck" but I've never seen
one quite this color, unless it's a trick of the light . . . and I have seen
hundreds of Cooper's Hawks.

Based on the white blotches on the back and the moderately streaked breast,
they appear to be Cooper's Hawks.

1) square head with faint eye line
2) ratio of tail size to body
3) head patterning
4) streaks on the outside but not really on the belly
5) thick legs
6) white fleckings on the back
makes me say juvenile cooper hawk.

This is the hardest call in hawk-watching, and perched birds are the worst!
At first glance, the squared-off tail in the top right photo suggests
Sharpie, but the streaking on the chest in all the photos is too sharply
defined in my opinion.  Head conformation and posture cause me to lean
toward Cooper's, also.   A good indication of size would be nice.  If one is
a hen, then it should be obviously large; approximating the mass of a Rock
Dove.  Males are pretty small, however, so size is tricky unless one is a
hen.

Both birds ( I assume that there are two) are juveniles.
Back to the tail, it may not be quite as square-ended as it appears (photo
not too clear), and it's also not unusual for a young of the year in it's
first plumage to have excessive wear on the tail tip due to scraping it on
the edge of the nest and from awkward landings.
So in my opinion you've got juvenile Cooper's hawks.

But in the second photo down on the right side, the broad stripes on the
tail, light gray and dark, sure suggest an accipiter to me. Think you've got
a young Cooper's here?
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Brad Stone
Asheville, NC