Nuthatch and Hawk

I believe this is a Cooper's hawk, but I'll defer to those who may know better.

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/DEjz​8t

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/DtUR​LU

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/DdcN​xQ

Yes, I believe that is a Coopers. Aside from general shape, the red eye is indicative.

tigtillinghast wrote in post #17879691
Yes, I believe that is a Coopers. Aside from general shape, the red eye is indicative.

Thank you. And let me be the first to say welcome to POTN!

Yep, Coopers Hawk. Nice capture on both.

Adult male Sharp-shinned hawk, and here is why. Bright red eyes are only attained in adulthood in Accipiters (Northern goshawk, Cooper's hawk, and Sharp-shinned hawk in North America all get red eyes in adulthood) The eyes of males are the reddest with females attaining orangish eyes. There are slight plumage variation between the sexes with females usually being slightly duller, but this takes practice. The head is small with the eyes set forward close to the bill. The shape of the transition from cere to forehead also matches up with the Sharp-shinned hawk. Look at the supraorbital ridge (that fleshy projection above the eye). On adult Sharp-shinned hawks it is yellow, and on Cooper's hawks it is grey. Next, look at the tail. Sharp-shinned hawks have shorter tails when compared to overall size than Cooper's hawks, and look at that tail tip. Sharp-shinned hawks have tail feathers of equal, or very near equal length. The tail on a perched Cooper's hawk when viewed from the angle you photographed will show graduated feather length--each set of feathers when you move out from the central two feathers gets shorter, and this is what gives Cooper's hawks that rounded off tail tip. Also, most Cooper's hawks have a white terminal tail band that is more pronounced than on Sharp-shinned hawks, but not all due to various reasons. By spring the white tail feather tips are often worn away on Cooper's. Some Sharp-shinned hawks have a white band that can appear similar to Cooper's hawks after molting in new tail feathers during summer/early fall. The tarsi (legs) is also another point to look at. You can't see it on your bird, but the tarsi on a Cooper's hawks are near pencil thickness, while Sharp-shinned hawks have much thinner tarsi.

Adding a couple links that may help:
Sharpies VS Cooper's http://jonruddy.blogsp​ot.com …ary-23rd-i-spent-few.html
Hawkwatch International Blog has a lot of good Raptor info http://www.hawkwatch.o​rg/blog

Beekeeper wrote in post #17879774
Adult male Sharp-shinned hawk, and here is why. Bright red eyes are only attained in adulthood in Accipiters (Northern goshawk, Cooper's hawk, and Sharp-shinned hawk in North America all get red eyes in adulthood) The eyes of males are the reddest with females attaining orangish eyes. There are slight plumage variation between the sexes with females usually being slightly duller, but this takes practice. The head is small with the eyes set forward close to the bill. The shape of the transition from cere to forehead also matches up with the Sharp-shinned hawk. Look at the supraorbital ridge (that fleshy projection above the eye). On adult Sharp-shinned hawks it is yellow, and on Cooper's hawks it is grey. Next, look at the tail. Sharp-shinned hawks have shorter tails when compared to overall size than Cooper's hawks, and look at that tail tip. Sharp-shinned hawks have tail feathers of equal, or very near equal length. The tail on a perched Cooper's hawk when viewed from the angle you photographed will show graduated feather length--each set of feathers when you move out from the central two feathers gets shorter, and this is what gives Cooper's hawks that rounded off tail tip. Also, most Cooper's hawks have a white terminal tail band that is more pronounced than on Sharp-shinned hawks, but not all due to various reasons. By spring the white tail feather tips are often worn away on Cooper's. Some Sharp-shinned hawks have a white band that can appear similar to Cooper's hawks after molting in new tail feathers during summer/early fall. The tarsi (legs) is also another point to look at. You can't see it on your bird, but the tarsi on a Cooper's hawks are near pencil thickness, while Sharp-shinned hawks have much thinner tarsi.

Adding a couple links that may help:
Sharpies VS Cooper's http://jonruddy.blogsp​ot.com …ary-23rd-i-spent-few.html
Hawkwatch International Blog has a lot of good Raptor info http://www.hawkwatch.o​rg/blog

Wow. Thank you for sharing that wealth of information. I wish I was better at knowing the differences, but that is why I defer to you more knowledgeable folks. Guess it's time to buy a better guide.

Very nice,especially the first nuthatch!

mandokid1 wrote in post #17880115
Very nice,especially the first nuthatch!

Thank you

those are all beauties Phil

CaptBob wrote in post #17880175
those are all beauties Phil

Thank you, CaptBob

Nice series, although I have to admit that your watermark is distracting. As for Coopers v Sharpie, I am not sure I can add anything!

TFS

Nice captures and well done..

nc_killie wrote in post #17880347
Nice series, although I have to admit that your watermark is distracting. As for Coopers v Sharpie, I am not sure I can add anything!

TFS

budcam wrote in post #17880832
Nice captures and well done..

Thank you, both.

Very nice set. Phil

Peter2516 wrote in post #17881194
Very nice set. Phil

Thank you, Peter.