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Cooper's Hawk

Accipiter cooperii

Photo by LauraSaenz
Published on Project Noah
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30.213, -95.7476

Field Notes

Description:

I know this is not the best picture, I was so surprised to see this large bird on my fence and just grabbed what I had to take a picture...he is large and his breast is white. His tail is banded with black and gray stripes.

Habitat:

This is my backyard, he didn't come to eat, he just landed on the fence and hung out a few minutes.

Species ID Suggestions

Cooper's Hawk

Accipiter cooperii

Reference Link
Malcolm Wilton-Jones
2

Comments (7)
LauraSaenz
Thanks for the suggestions I didn't see any other color on him. He flew down and just sat on the fence, he was there maybe 2 minutes. I was so shocked to see a bird that big that close to the house. I think looking at the link http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Coopers_Hawk/id/ac and comparing it to the sharp shinned hawk, I do believe it was a coopers hawk. So exciting, I just got into bird watching the last few days. my younger girls wanted to feed the birds and I had no idea how many would come to our back yard-so awesome.
Liam
Definitely a Cooper's Hawk (Accipiter cooperii). The pale nape, general proportions, and approximate size give it away.
auntnance123
Just guessing here, but it may be a cooper's hawk; http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Coopers_Hawk/id/ac
Malcolm Wilton-Jones
That's what I thought but I cannot see any red on the breast from this angle. Laura, can you add anything more to the description, did you see any markings on the breast.
ClementDufour
its a small accipiter. its really hard to tell a cooper's hawk from a sharpshinned hawk from that far away. its certainly too small to be a goshawk.
Photographed
PublishedFebruary 12, 2012

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