I woke up this AM to find this hawk posing on an old maple stump in my garden. I am 95% sure it's a juvenile coopers, but I never got to see the tail and the spotting doesn't seem as uniform as I am used to on young coopers hawks. Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Josh
This message was edited Sep 4, 2009 9:41 PM
Here's a second pic
and just for fun a pic of it blinking so you can see the closed eyelid
I can't help with the ID, but I can say that you took some great shots of it!
Hack
So far most feedback I've gotten on PABIRDS listserv points to juvi Broad Winged. Here's a snipet from an experienced birder around here:
That's actually a lightly marked juvenile broad-winged hawk, not a Coop. While subtle, the proportions are very different than on an accipiter - the head is heavier and blockier, the body stockier, the legs shorter and thicker, although this last point is hard to see in these photos. You might have been confused if you'd been able to see the tail and wings, since the tail would have been much shorter, and the primary projection longer, in this bird vs. a Cooper's hawk.
As for pattern, young broadwings vary pretty dramatically in the darkness of their markings, and this one is on the light side of the scale (Brian Wheeler's Raptors of Eastern North America is the only guide that really conveys this variation). In particular, this bird has pale and checkerboard head markings, instead of the heavier brown typical of young broadwings and red-shoulders. But the very rounded breast spots, which you picked up on, are wrong for a young Coop, which has long, teardrop-shaped markings.
Hope this helps,
Scott
I'd agree with Broad-winged. Certainly a Buteo, it's the wrong shape for an Accipiter hawk like Cooper's. The only other potential confusion species is Red-shouldered, as it is too small for Red-tailed.
Resin
This was one of those birds that stood out as being not 'right' to me, but I errored on the side of the popular local resident. Broad Winged Hawks very rarely nest in our area, but it is the beginning of the East Coast hawk migration, so this young individual was probably just passing through. We have a local family of Coopers Hawks that we see a few times a week. Without being able to see the tail, or the bird fly (I looked down to check some settings on the camera, looked back up and it was gone), I assumed it was probably just one of the coops looking weird.
Thanks,
josh
This message was edited Sep 4, 2009 9:41 PM
