Ohio Birding Forum
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#1 2006-12-13 18:49:52
Cooper's Hawk versus Sharp-shinned Hawk ID?
Does anyone have advice for distinguishing between the Cooper's Hawk and the Sharp-shinned Hawk. It looks like their sizes can overlap. Books say to look at their head size or tail shape. Any other tricks they aren't mentioning?
#2 2006-12-13 20:05:38
Re: Cooper's Hawk versus Sharp-shinned Hawk ID?
Good luck. I mis-identified a Coopers two years ago and a few on the list helped correct my ID.
I was lucky enough to have a nesting pair of Coopers in a tree across the street. I was able to observe them for a season. The one thing that I did notice was that 90% of the time they ate, it was on the flat on the top of a utility pole. I never did see them eat on the ground. The other 10% was high up in a tree.
The Coopers raised a single young, then left the area shortly after the young fledged.
I originally thought they were Sharp-shinned. I based my "guess" on what looked like a forked tail on the female. The fork in the tail was becuase she lost a feather during her molt. The Sharp-shinned may have a fork in the tail and it is more squared than the Coopers. The Coopers tail tends to be more round.
The photo is of the female. You can see what I thought was the "fork" in the tail. You can also see the slight roundness of the tail.
#3 2006-12-14 11:01:16
Re: Cooper's Hawk versus Sharp-shinned Hawk ID?
I've always referred to this website:
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/pfw/AboutB … Dtable.htm
I don't know if this helps but here are two pictures, a sharp-shinned and a coopers.
Hope that helps!
#4 2006-12-21 12:41:12
Re: Cooper's Hawk versus Sharp-shinned Hawk ID?
thanks for the pictures Jean. Having both birds in the same pose helps.
I've yet to be sure of my field ID's of these birds. I shouldn't have any problem in the future though, since the most positive ID is how many legs the bird is standing on. ;-)
I found Dave's comment about where the bird eats enlightening. I thought I had a coopers at my son's house and I got a picutre of one feeding but it was on the ground. Here's a shot. What do you (all) think?
#5 2006-12-21 21:19:13
Re: Cooper's Hawk versus Sharp-shinned Hawk ID?
Jean,
how did you get those two pics to pop up immediately in your message, rather than via links?
I have my own to shots of what I think are the two different hawks that I would like to post for comment.
Stephen
#6 2006-12-21 22:09:50
Re: Cooper's Hawk versus Sharp-shinned Hawk ID?
Norman, I'm going to guess that's a coopers - but that's just my .02 worth and at my level of experience that is only worth about half that :^). I hope some more experienced birders can help you. I am baseing that on the thickness of the legs, the shape of the head and the closeness of the eyes to the beak.
I had a sharp-shinned take down a dove and he proceeded to dine on the ground. I got a few shots in before he noticed me and took off. He attempted to take the dove with him but dropped it in the woods. I don't know if it is normal for them to dine on the ground or not, maybe it's because the dove was rather large for him???. Here's a link, the picture is a little gruesome so I didn't want to post it here ...
Sharp-shinned with a dove
Stephen, when you post a reply look for the "[img] tag: on" link at the bottom of the response box, it explains the code you need to use ... of go Here .
You will have to have the picture uploaded to a photo hosting site first. Photobucket provides free hosting and allows remote linking of the picture. Just be sure that the site you use allows remote linking (yahoo does not). If you would like I can upload your pictures to my web host and post the pictures. If you need additional help, feel free to email me.
#7 2006-12-26 12:22:41
Re: Cooper's Hawk versus Sharp-shinned Hawk ID?
Jean,
That's a beautiful shot of the hawk. What camera/lens did you use?
The wing feathers in the picture caught my attention. I knew these were short winged for flight in thickly wooded areas but never saw up close how abruptly the feathers end. The white feathers under the rump are not usually seen in photos either.
Coopers was my first guess too, but then the head/eye/beak arrangement on my photo made me seriously consider SS.
Thanks for the photo. Do you mind if I use it as my windows wallpaper for a day or two? I have a couple of friends that appreciate bird pictures and I'd like to show it to them.
Norm
#8 2006-12-26 12:48:47
Re: Cooper's Hawk versus Sharp-shinned Hawk ID?
Norman, you are welcome to any of my shots, I take it as a real compliment - I enjoy sharing my photos as much as I like taking them.
Here are a few others you might enjoy, the last one really shows the feathers well.
Sharp shinned 1
Sharp shinned 2
Sharp shinned 3
I am using a Canon Rebel XT with a 100-400mm lens. They were all taken from the house.
#9 2006-12-26 15:38:34
Re: Cooper's Hawk versus Sharp-shinned Hawk ID?
I picked up a book a while ago - Raptors of Eastern North America - Brian K. Wheeler
As far as feeding goes, it states that both the Sharp-shinned and Coopers almost always feed on the ground! Though when they are nesting they tear apart their prey on "plucking posts". That's probably what I observed was the birds on the plucking posts. They did consume the prey while on the post when I observed them.
About an hour ago I came face to face with a Coopers about 3 feet from my kitchen window. It surprised me more than I surprised it! It was only in the back yard for about 2 minutes. Enough time to scare away all the Goldfinches. Now all I have are House Sparrows. I wish it would come back to feed on the House Sparrows!
#10 2007-01-05 10:40:30
Re: Cooper's Hawk versus Sharp-shinned Hawk ID?
I think it is easier to id these accipiters in flight, unlike songbirds that we want to hold still. The best way to learn them in flight is to go to hawk mountain or Cape May NJ in the fall and listen to the experts call them in flight. There is no substitute for that experience. After a good hawk counter ids a few thousand for me the difference becomes obvious.
#11 2007-01-07 22:37:38
Re: Cooper's Hawk versus Sharp-shinned Hawk ID?
Really neat shots of the Sharp-shinned Hawk Jean, thanks for sharing. What a beautiful little hawk.
Its already been said, but I'll also confirm that that is a picture of a Cooper's Hawk you have there Norm.
These birds can be very tough to I.D. in the field and can confuse even the very experienced, especially when only a brief glimpse is offered. Jack mentioned the flight style and this is a pretty good way to get a clue after you've observed a good number of the birds. All of these Accipiters have a flight style of several wingflaps and then a glide (flap,flap,flap glide) which helps you know its an accipiter at least. The Sharp-shinned has a quicker wingbeat and more "buoyant" flight, which makes sense given its smaller size. The Cooper's is moderately slower in wingbeat and given to using its tail in making adjustments in air more frequently, it is not really buoyant in flight but is given to steep "stoops" when gliding often using the glide part of the flight to dive down on bird prey items. Of course this stoop is used by all the accipiters. Also in flight the wrists of the Sharp-shinned are more angled forward in general and the bird's smaller head and neck are apparent and do not usually project beyond the front edge of the wing. The Cooper's Hawk's silhouette above shows a larger head which projects beyond the bird's slightly less forward wrists in front, and its tail is longer and more rounded.
When perching both Sharp-shinned and Cooper's Hawks will often perch lower in a tree, as opposed to some other birds of prey that like a more prominent perch.
hope some of that helps some :-D
"Look its a simple question of weight ratios; a .5 oz bird can not carry 1 lb cocconut"
- Monty Python