-
Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.
Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
Missouri Hawk (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter sirijay
- Start date
The Bird Nuts
Birding Duo
Young Red-shouldered. Note the tail that is just a little longer than the wingtips, the barring on the secondaries, and the red coming in on the shoulder. Cooper's Hawks have longer tails, thinner legs, paler eyes, and longer streaks on the breast at this age.
KenM
Well-known member
Attachments
The Bird Nuts
Birding Duo
Nothing against Ken, but his example is not what a typical young Cooper's Hawk would look like (it almost looks like a Goshawk). This one is better for comparison: http://www.oiseaux-birds.com/falconiformes/epervier-cooper/epervier-cooper-juvenile1.jpg
KenM
Well-known member
My shot was taken from Portland, Oregon, (perhaps Western birds are bigger?) two Juv.females and a male, they were “hanging-out” almost adjacent to the nest, and remarkably I witnessed one of the females drop down onto a Grey Squirrel, which was promptly dispatched with consumate ease. On size the Juv. females were perhaps 20% larger than the sibling male. I can recall that the tails were a considerable length, all in all, an amazing spectacle watching the birds, which appeared fearless...down to perhaps 7-8 metres at times.
Cheers
The Bird Nuts
Birding Duo
I'm not sure about size difference between western and eastern, but immature western Cooper's do tend to be more heavily marked as your bird is. It seems unusually dark, but I suppose that could be due to lighting. I had a similar experience watching three young Cooper's Hawks up close. I was shaking in excitement!
