Wisconsin Winter Accipiter (1 Viewer)

[KeeleyJones]

Hello all! I'm new and in need of some help!
We are in northern WI, east of Minneapolis and we have a smaller accipiter hanging around. I'm happy to see it hunting around our bird feeders, circle of life and all. Just means we have decent habitat, right? The question is, what is this bird?
Plumage leads me to think its a broad-shouldered hawk and not a Cooper's hawk, but everything I'm reading says B-S hawks don't stay in Wisconsin over winter? We've had B-S nesting over the summer, so we know they are in the area.
Its def. too small to be a Red Winged and too big to be a sharp-shinned. I'm still new to birding, so I'm not sure how steadfast the winter habitat suggestions are for the B-S are. I'm also not confident in how long immature/juvenile keep their youthful plumage, would it make more sense that it is an immature Coopers's?
Thanks in advance- I appreciate any insight!
Best, Keeley

 

[raymie]

A photo would be nice, but almost certainly Cooper's.

 

[KeeleyJones]

A photo would be nice, but almost certainly Cooper's.

Thanks! I wasn't fast enough this morning, but I'll keep an eye out. So, its more likely that its a juvenile Cooper's then? Because B-S don't actually winter here?

 

[raymie]

Thanks! I wasn't fast enough this morning, but I'll keep an eye out. So, its more likely that its a juvenile Cooper's then? Because B-S don't actually winter here?

Yes. (I'm not sure if you're talking about Broad-winged or Red-shouldered but neither is normally found here in winter).

 

[KeeleyJones]

Yes. (I'm not sure if you're talking about Broad-winged or Red-shouldered but neither is normally found here in winter).

In my over-caffienated excitement I smushed the two together, I had meant broad-winged! Thank you!

 

[Butty]

A lot of confusion with names here...
Broad-winged hawk: definitely won't be present in Jan.
Red-shouldered hawk: I think very unlikely to be present in Jan?
Red-tailed hawk: seems unlikely from your description.
Note that judging the size of a lone bird is notoriously unreliable.
I fear there's nothing in your description (including size) that would permit a distinction between Cooper's hawk and sharp-shinned hawk.

 

[raymie]

A lot of confusion with names here...
Broad-winged hawk: definitely won't be present in Jan.
Red-shouldered hawk: I think very unlikely to be present in Jan?
Red-tailed hawk: seems unlikely from your description.
Note that judging the size of a lone bird is notoriously unreliable.
I fear there's nothing in your description (including size) that would permit a distinction between Cooper's hawk and sharp-shinned hawk.

Red-shouldered isn't really any more likely than Broad-winged in northern Wisconsin in January.