Coopers or Sharp shinned hawk? (1 Viewer)

Took this pic a couple days ago. The long, somewhat rounded tail suggests a Coopers.

I agree, Cooper's. But the "rounded" tail only applies to the spread tail. When folded, you look for graduated feather lengths, which your photo shows wonderfully. Plus, the streaking on the breast becomes finer on the belly on Cooper's, again showing well on your bird, where a Sharpie's would remain broader over the chest and belly. Nice photo!

Forgot to add that as both Sharpie and Cooper's are accipiters, both their tail lengths are long and as far as I'm aware not a trait you can use to distinguish between either species.

Thanks, Katy.

Katy is absolutely right about those streaks. Many beginning birders concentrate too much on the tail shape as THE separator between the species. There are other distinguishing features that, together, are very reliable. Among them are overall size of the bird and size and shape of the head, thickness of the legs, and in flight, the projection of the head beyond the arc of the wings. With juveniles (as in the photo) the streak pattern is distinctive.

All good field guides discuss these points. Most Cooper's/Sharp-shinned quandaries are more due to the observer's lack of attention to the whole bird than to the difficulty of the distinction.

Phalarope