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Project Noah Nature School
Accipter cooperii
This bird was perched about 6 ft away from where I stood. Gave me a chance to take a few close ups. this is part 1 of a series,to follow. Pale nape,rich buffy chest and gorgeous red eyes and a banded tail. I was able to observe his nictitating membrane. He stood with a slightly drooping wing and his leg pulled up,occasionally. Beautiful accipter!!
foothills
triggered a lamenting from the surrounding bird population. Part 1 of 4 Part 2 http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/274... part 3 http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/273... Part 4 http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/274...
Satyen, I was lucky to see a Shikra in Baroda, It is a beauty.Similar to this bird,the plumage of a shikra is grayish.
Wow, very extensive discussion. Looks like a classic Cooper's to me - gray nape, round tail, bulging supraorbital ridge. It's an adult, but I'm not sure if sex can be determined without both male and female present.
If you noticed,it has a drooping wing. Emily indicated that it could be an injury. It was flying around quite well though.
Yes I see that now. I am also leaning to Coop. Varied length of tail feathers, eyes close to front. Hard to tell with the head and chest. It looks underweight.
If you read the notes section Jellis, Jemma gives links for other spottings of this same individual that have many other pictures.
Too me the major thing is the size. The Sharp Shinned is about the size of a Eurasian Collared Dove and the Cooper's is way bigger. Plus the size of the head compared to the body. And the chest shape. I don't see a tail in any of these images.
Updated to "Cooper's Hawk" Thanks to all Hawk lovers for their interest. Was appreciated!.
I agree with Ashley.., I think is a Cooper's Hawk - male. I check from Raptors of the World a field guide, James Ferguson - Lees; David Christie 's book.
No, adults have a white band. "Tail Tip: The tip of the tail is rounded and has a white terminal band. The width of the white tip can vary depending on how worn the feathers are, but it is nearly always noticeable." Sharp-shinned have a very thin white tip. But the white is not the main character I'm looking at, I'm going by the shape of the tail. That makes me very confident in this being a Cooper's. Yes, I could be wrong, but until someone can show me why it's a Sharp-shinned I am confidently sticking to Cooper's.
Ashley ,thanks for your valuable feedback.
One major factor which confuses me is that he neighbors have been talking about a sharp shinned hawk in the neighborhood. Maybe they are equally confused.
What you say holds true for an immature Coopers hawk with the tail ending in a terminal white band.
And who says that? None other than Cornell's Lab.Scroll down! thanks!
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Coope...
I am 99% positive this is a Cooper's Hawk. Especially when you look in your Part 3 series, you get clear looks at the tail. Sharp-shinned is very straight with a slight curve upward in the middle. Cooper's has a slight curve and more of a white edge, just like yours has.
Sooo...I'm still leaning sharpie, but I'm less sure now. Part 2, picture 3 makes me think 100% sharpie due to the flat squared tail. Legs also look really skinny. However, several of the pictures in part 3 make me go either way. Let's just say I wouldn't bet any money guessing on these pics! This is a tough one...
yes, i just looked. i now would vote cooper's i think as well
your welcome!
Coopers and Sharpies are the most confusing/debatable spottings on project Noah. (In my experience). If you look on the Wikipedia page for Sharpies/Coopers towards the bottom they have a picture of the two next to each other, use that as a reference. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharp-shin...
Spotted on Jun 18, 2013
Submitted on Jun 18, 2013
