ID this hawk for us!

My 11 year old daughter took these using her Canon 20D with Tamron 28-75mm lens. Juvenile Red Tail or Cooper's Hawk?

Thanks!

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I would guess Red tailed but it is probably certain your daughter will be hooked, those are great shots, fantastic detail
Great Shooting!

She loves it. She's been birding for a while now.. and just started to take pictures about a year ago. She's normally equipped with the 20D and her 28-200mm Tamron lens because she can't really carry my 100-400mm lens yet. This is by far her best shots... she was out at the Dallas Arboretum..not expecting to see birds but when the hawk swooped down and got the rabbit right in front of her, she went after it !

Thats Great stuff!

just.....wow!
Can't help with the id - I'd just call it Hawk and let it go at that!

Regardless, these are great shots, your daughter should be proud - that second one is a definite wall-hanger.

Unfortunately, raptors are very difficult to identify unless you can get a picture of them flying so you can see the feather patterns from below - from my experience that seems to be the definitive way to identify them. Having said that, I would also agree that it is probably a juvenile Red Tail rather than a juvenile Cooper's, as the Cooper's tend to have a longer tail with barred tail feathers. Also, the Red-tailed has the feathers that extend down along the top part of the legs, whereas the Cooper's does not. Hope this helps a bit.

Cheers,

WesternGuy

nwyman wrote in post #11508637
just.....wow!
Can't help with the id - I'd just call it Hawk and let it go at that!

Oh no... not good enough.. she's waiting for the answer!!

WesternGuy wrote in post #11508654
Regardless, these are great shots, your daughter should be proud - that second one is a definite wall-hanger.

Unfortunately, raptors are very difficult to identify unless you can get a picture of them flying so you can see the feather patterns from below - from my experience that seems to be the definitive way to identify them. Having said that, I would also agree that it is probably a juvenile Red Tail rather than a juvenile Cooper's, as the Cooper's tend to have a longer tail with barred tail feathers. Also, the Red-tailed has the feathers that extend down along the top part of the legs, whereas the Cooper's does not. Hope this helps a bit.

Cheers,

WesternGuy

Her first ID was juvenile Red Tail.. I said Cooper's.. so I guess she's right!

Yep, cool shots of a Red Tail

Absolutely fantastic!!! Looks like her father taught her well.

great captures

100% immature Red-Tailed Hawk--no ambiguity in the ID. And agree, beautiful shots!

your daughter got a couple of great shots

Great shots