Cooper's Hawk? Southwest Montana (1 Viewer)

[RKDad]

I saw this beauty chasing a bunch of Cedar Waxwing's in one of our apple trees and manged to get a few pic's of him. (or her) I can recognize most of the birds we have around this area but this one I can't quite decide. My thought is the Cooper's Hawk as it the closest match I've found. It's about the size of a Magpie, slightly smaller. Been a great day so far, I've had the Waxwing's, Magpie's, Hawk, sparrow's and 2 pairs of doves. We usually have a woodpecker that announces it presences by landing on our window mounted A/C unit and drums away. I set up a few different feeders for local as well as migrating birds that's why we get such a variety of species here. I attached a pic of a little fella that's been around for a few years now. Him as well as his mom and a few new fawns frequent our yard to clean up apples and occasionally knock the bird feeders down to get at the fruits. I hope it's ok to post his pic. I just love to share the things we see.

 

[Andy Adcock]

Sharpie for me, just looks too skinny for a Coop?

 

[fugl]

Dto. Small head without a distinct cap, lateral tail feathers same length as others.

 

[KC Foggin]

Same here.

 

[gratography]

besides the actual ID, might just be a Sharpie, very nice picture

 

[RKDad]

Thanks everyone, thought maybe it was a juvenile and that's why I couldn't tell for sure. Really is cool watching it come down out the sky at mach1 and chase the little one around. Haven't seen him catch anything yet.

 

[RKDad]

I just found another picture on the this site and it looks identical to my picture. Thinking it is a younger bird.
http://fieldguide.mt.gov/speciesDetail.aspx?elcode=ABNKC12040

 

[D Halas]

Thanks everyone, thought maybe it was a juvenile and that's why I couldn't tell for sure. Really is cool watching it come down out the sky at mach1 and chase the little one around. Haven't seen him catch anything yet.

The bird in your photo is an adult Sharp-shinned Hawk, not a juvenile. Juveniles of both Sharp-shinned and Cooper's Hawk have brown on the wings and back, not grey, and their bellies are streaked with brown, rather than barred with orange-red.

 

[RKDad]

The only thing that still has me thinking Cooper's is the eyes. I haven't found a picture yet that shows the Sharp with red eyes. And the eyes on this one is blood red. Both have very similar colors even the yellow bridge on the beak. Thanks for the input.

 

[howiewu]

The only thing that still has me thinking Cooper's is the eyes. I haven't found a picture yet that shows the Sharp with red eyes. And the eyes on this one is blood red. Both have very similar colors even the yellow bridge on the beak. Thanks for the input.

Both adult Cooper’s and Sharp-shinned have red eyes.

 

[Birdbrain22]

The red eyes are on adult accipiters. Yellow eyes on juveniles and they go through a short stage where the eyes are orange when in the process of going from juvie to full adult. The whole process can take up to 3-4 years.