Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Falcon or Hawk ID?

This small bird of prey was in the back yard this morning. Can any of you birders ID it for me?
Location is Southern Nevada.



Thanks,
Steve

Cooper's hawk methinks

Cooper's Hawk

I think you're both right.

Neither of my two bird ID books had a picture resembling it. I just searched more online and it looks like it is probably an immature Coopers Hawk.

Looks like a Coopers Hawk. Could be a sharpie though.

I would go with sharp-shinned, the yellow eyes and speckling on the back, and "small" size, but I am not an expert.

Sharp Shinned

Tough one.

Certainly a first-year Cooper's or sharp-shin, both of which have yellow-eyes (the eyes get darker red as the bird ages).

Sharpies have a smaller head more in proportion to a chicken, Cooper's have bigger heads but this can be a tough call, especially if the body plumage is slightly fluffed out as it is here.

Sharpies have obviously thin, pencil like legs.

The breast streaking on a juvenile sharpie is heavier, blotchier and browner, extending down to the belly. On a juvie Cooper the breast streaking is thinner and darker over a more obviously whiter background, the belly is mostly white.

http://feederwatch.org/learn/tricky-bird-ids/coopers-hawk-and-sharp-shinned-hawk/

The head to me says Sharpie, but the legs and belly say Cooper's.

I'm gonna guess Cooper's but this is one of those cases I wouldn't bet money on it.

Birdwatcher

Wait, looked at it again, now I think Sharpie.

See the yellow around the top of beak area and eyes. Can't make out the end of the tail.

That said, I'm 99% sure it's a Sharp Shinned.

On opening this a third time, I'm pretty sure its a sharpie too, a female, the males are tiny.

Adult male Sharpshined...breast markings are vertical, immature would be horisontal, upper eye white slash, blue back and tail markings stand out. A "Small Blue Darter" as the old falconers would call them. ( The large being a Goshawk).
Had several when a kid..fearless birds.

Regardless, it's a bird-killing machine. Coopers and redtails take a bunch of birds, mostly doves, around my feeders. Upsets my wife a bit, but I tell her they've got to eat too.

We also have a great-horned owl about. Saw him one evening sitting in the top of my neighbor's Leyland cypress watching for bunnies.

Thanks for your responses. After reading them and reading a bit more in the bird books, it does appear to be a Sharp Shinned.
Size was also a factor as the bird was only about 12" head to tail and the SS are the smaller than the Coopers.

Fairly regular visitor at our birdfeeders during certain times of the year.

Have one in our back yard right now perched on the clothes line pole sunning itself and watching the bird feeders hoping for an easy meal to show up.