Photo by Corinne
Many times we get backyard visitors who are not looking for your sunflower seeds. They come very quickly and if you’re lucky like Corinne . . . you are able to get a few photos of them. Next is the hard part is identifying which species it is! Do you know what species of hawk this is?
Photo by Corinne
[Corinne is a fan of the Mon@rch Nature Blog and emailed me about helping identifying some birdies that showed up in her back yard. . . . she agreed to let me add a few of them onto the birdQUIZ blog!! This should be fun discussing all the different field marks on these guys!]
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17 responses so far ↓
rick // January 29, 2009 at 1:42 pm |
Looks like a coopers hawk to me!
fenwr // January 29, 2009 at 1:43 pm |
I’m guessing a young Coopers Hawk. It is hard to judge his size but his head looks larger in comparison to his body than a sharp-shinned and his legs seem longer but I’m no expert. I can’t wait to find out.
Gloria // January 29, 2009 at 4:23 pm |
Guessing here because I am trying to learn to identify the hawks sometimes seen in our backyard.
Is it a cooper’s.
I’m always looking at pictures trying to tell the difference between sharp-shinned and cooper’s…Gloria
Susan Gets Native // January 30, 2009 at 12:48 am |
Unless this hawk is somehow sitting in a sapling, it’s a Coop, comparing the size of the bird to the size of the branch it’s on.
A young one, because of the vertical, teardrop streaks on the chest and belly, and the yellow eyes.
Bless its fierce little heart…may it eat ALL of the starlings and HOSP.
Chad // January 30, 2009 at 9:45 pm |
Officially, I am going along with the masses, and I will say a juvenile Cooper’s Hawk. Here is my reasoning:
Obviously, it is one of the accipiters, and that leaves us with three species to choose from (Sharp-shinned, Cooper’s, and Northern Goshawk). Ruling out Northern Goshawk is easy. Separating the other two is always a challenge, especially when the bird is perched in a photo and there is no real reference of size.
However, the image does give us a clue with its proportions. Above someone had mentioned the apparent length of the leg of the bird in question. I have banded a good deal of Sharp-shinned Hawks, and I would suggest using the thickness of the leg as a better gauge. Sharp-shinned legs are very twiggy, and this one seems to have more substantial heft.
aullori // January 31, 2009 at 8:49 pm |
once again going with the flow I have to say cooper as well…. if this is a hint of what is to come I can’t wait to see Corinne’s other shots.
Pinar // February 1, 2009 at 1:41 pm |
It looks like a Cooper’s Hawk to me too.
Daryll // February 5, 2009 at 6:42 pm |
Cooper’s Hawk it is.
K // February 6, 2009 at 2:05 am |
Absolutely, totally, completely, without a doubt a Cooper’s Hawk.
Bethany // February 11, 2009 at 4:50 pm |
I’m going out on a limb and going with a Golden Eagle…just a thought. Kidding! I saw my first Cooper’s the other weekend, very cool except it made all of my birdies fly away from the feeder–those predators!
robertmillerphotography // February 15, 2009 at 9:57 pm |
I love hawks and I agree with the crowd it is a cooper. I have a wild hawk friend that comes and visits me often he is a red-tail and will often land within ten feet of me after a fly over. We often have conversations about were moles are hiding in the grass. My friend the Red-Tail can be found here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lynchburgvirginia/3274901781/
Mary // February 25, 2009 at 6:43 am |
Without looking at anyone’s guess, my first reaction is a Sharp-Shinned.
Bonnie // March 1, 2009 at 6:24 pm |
I say a Prarie Falcon. I have 2 residents of the same species. Easily mistaken for a hawk or Golden Eagle.
NatureShutterbug // March 1, 2009 at 11:28 pm |
I have photographed a sharp-shinned, and it has a very red eye. Don’t know enough, but it seems like a Cooper’s.
Keith McC // March 9, 2009 at 12:49 pm |
Neither Cooper’s or Sharp-shinned have red eyes as a juvenile, and i’m not sure how it would be possible to judge size based on the branch in the photo. I notice the rather fine streaking (usually more broad on SS) on this juvenile as well as where that streaking ends. The young SS’s i believe usually have streaking that extends down a good bit further underneath.
Red // March 10, 2009 at 1:23 pm |
I think it’s a Cooper’s… In this pic, it all depends on the thickness of the branches vs. Sharp-shinned. But it appears scale-wise to be a Cooper’s.
Samuel Snook (Birdman) // March 20, 2009 at 8:41 am |
1st year Cooper’s Hawk