🦅 Learn to ID raptors with Henry Stanier online on 14 Jan!

🌤️ Optional Great Fen walk on 17 Jan.

Book here: www.wildlifebcn.org/events/2026-...

#RaptorID #Birdwatching

A collage of adult male Cooper's Hawks

While helping some folks w/a tricky winter accipitrine hawk ID, I collaged some of my best scrunched up, cold-weather adult male Cooper's Hawk! So cute and deceivingly similar to Sharpies! #raptorid #birdid #birding 🪶

A composite image showing 3 astur hawks in flight in similar poses. Left: a juvenile Cooper's Hawk. Center: Unidentified bird from Original Poster. R: a juvenile American Goshawk. The Center bird more closely matches the shape of a Cooper's Hawk.

Sharing a composite I made for #RaptorID FB group. Center is OP's astur hawk from NV. L: #CoopersHawk from my library/R: #AmericanGoshawk from Macaulay Library.

OP wings look a bit broad, but not as long and broad as AGOS. Tail: not broad-based in all frames. Looks big-headed.

Verdict: #COHA 😎🦅🪶

So ultimately we can see that those streaked undertail coverts are definitely prominent on Goshawk, but there are exceptions where other accipitrine hawks show them. The OP juv in this post is a mis-ID'd Cooper's Hawk.

Use caution with this field mark, esp. in the West. 😎🦅

🪶 #birding #RaptorID

ML245128951 - Sharp-shinned Hawk - Macaulay Library Macaulay Library ML245128951; © Jerry Liguori; Salt Lake, Utah, United States

Liguori also mentions in the blog that juv Sharp-shinned Hawks can also show streaked undertail coverts! And @cornellbirds.bsky.social has the images to prove that too! 🪶 #birding #RaptorID
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ML244847331 - Cooper's Hawk - Macaulay Library Macaulay Library ML244847331; © Jerry Liguori; Davis, Utah, United States

Some examples from @cornellbirds.bsky.social and Liguori's treasure trove of flight images show that streaked UTCs can absolutely show up on Cooper's Hawk 🪶 #birding #RaptorID
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Hawkwatch International - Juvenile Cooper's Hawks - Yikes! I want to point out something very tricky regarding Cooper's Hawks. If you flip through the accipiter section of any field guide, you will likely read...

Liguori reminds us that juv COHA, esp. in the West, can appear more heavily streaked and even show some very fine streaking in the UTCs. This blog from Liguori has images that have been lost to the internet, but the words are still there. 🪶 #birding #RaptorID web.archive.org/web/20140717...

eBird Checklist - 30 Jul 2018 - Ramsey Canyon Preserve (formerly Mile Hi Ranch) - 15 species Submitted by John Gluth.

Some advanced #RaptorID talk with a friend about using the field mark of streaked undertail coverts when it comes to separating #CoopersHawk and #AmericanGoshawk.

Starting w/this OP bird, called AGOS in this checklist, shows a fine streak in UTCs in 2nd pic: ebird.org/checklist/S4...

😎🪶 #birding

Doing the first "#PeregrineFalcon or #Gyrfalcon" of the season in the #RaptorID Facebook group today... always a good time. Excruciatingly close call. Image is OP versus Peregrine from my library. Link to group (join us!) www.facebook.com/groups/13878...