Left a brush pile for security for the little birds and ...

... the Sharp-shiined Hawk figured it out. Now he has a nice ambush point. (:

I'm wondering if this is not a Cooper's hawk; it appears to have a dark cap and the 'shins' seem fairly thick.

CDMOOSE wrote in post #17766933
I'm wondering if this is not a Cooper's hawk; it appears to have a dark cap and the 'shins' seem fairly thick.

I'm never 100% sure on the difference between these hawks but I didn't think it quite large enough to be a Cooper's. I just found this while perusing the net. https://www.audubon.or​g …s-and-sharp-shinned-hawks

Now that I read that whole article, I'm even more confused. If he returns, I'll try and get a pic that includes the whole tail. That might help. I think the reason I was pretty sure it was a Sharp-shinned was because I thought it was the same hawk that was in my yard yesterday. Now that I look back I can see it's definitely not the same one, especially when looking at the eyes. The one today did appear larger than this one from yesterday. Thanks for getting me thinking, Al.

That is without a doubt a Sharp-shinned Hawk. (The top shot)
A Cooper's has a 'cap' on his head, a Sharpie has a 'hood'. Not just that, but look at his legs.

I have been wrong a lot in my life, but that is what I see.

Pretty cool shots and story too, it makes me feel for the 'food' it will soon get though... heheh

Randy

In other words, you're thinking I probably have a young and an older Sharp-shinned preying on my little birds?

mn shutterbug wrote in post #17767003
In other words, you're thinking I probably have a young and an older Sharp-shinned preying on my little birds?

If you mean me, I only mean that I am pretty sure that the top shot is a Sharpy, and more than likely the next shot too.
I am not one of those people that can spot a bird and tell you for a 'fact' that it is what it is, but I do know that a Sharpy has a 'hood', and when you can see that, that usually is your answer.
The tell-tale ways are the hood vs cap, the legs on a Sharpy are skinnier, the Sharpy's tail is squared, (vs a rounded Cooper's tail) and other things that I can't remember, and REAL birders can. I can't see the tail, but the legs look like a Sharpy to me.

Here's one I took outside through my bedroom window at the side of my pond, it shows the hood and the tail.
To be honest, it's really hard (for me) to know the difference between an adult Sharpy and an immature. The same goes for a Cooper's too, there's way to much to consider, plus it makes my head hurt. heheh

Here's a really good way to see which is which, IF you see two hawks and wonder. The sizes between a Cooper's and a Sharpy are pretty considerable.
http://www.pbase.com/b​irdfedr/image/13824954​0

Randy

I'm happy with whatever he is- great shots

I think the bird in the top pic is a adult male Cooper's hawk looking at the 'capped' appearance, and tarsus thickness. Males of both Sharp-shins and Cooper's are usually a bit more richly colored than the females who often have slightly duller rusty coloration underneath, and a brownish wash to their back and wing feathers. The second pic you posted is a hatch-year Sharp-shinned hawk, meaning it was hatched this past spring. Look at the bird Recrisp posted. The shot gives a good look at the tail of a Sharp-shinned hawk with the narrow white tail tip, and squared off tail. Sharpies get this squared off look because the tail feathers are the same length. On Coopers hawks there is a wider white tail tip, and each set of tail feathers gets progressively shorter from the middle two leading to a rounded look. Sharp-shinned hawks also are smaller than Cooper's hawks with Sharp-shins being about the size of a pigeon, and Coopers hawks being about the size of a crow. The tarsus (legs) are thin on Sharp-shins and about pencil thickness on Coopers hawks.

CaptBob wrote in post #17767288
I'm happy with whatever he is- great shots

Thanks Cap. I guess we'll never know for sure until I get a shot without cutting off his tail.

mn shutterbug wrote in post #17767365
Thanks Cap. I guess we'll never know for sure until I get a shot without cutting off his tail.

Just watch out for feather wear. These guys are aggressive hunters, and tail feather wear can complicate things starting in about the end of December. There will be quite a few Cooper's hawks that will be cruising with their tail tips worn down to varying degrees.

Jerry Liguori posts on Hawkwatch International's blog, and provides a lot of good information from years of trapping, banding, and studying Raptors.

http://www.hawkwatch.o​rg/blog