Id this bird

[gws]

My son took this picture today, Anyone ID the bird? Some sort of bird of prey, hawk or falcon.

 

[Nasty135]

Looks like a coopers hawk according to this site /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif Hopefully the page will load , it was quite long...

BTW, nice picture /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[cag]

Gary, I love the way the bird is camouflaged in the tree, my boys are asking if you have more pics on wild life as they enjoyed this one very much. And by the way Nasty, they thank you for the site with the wild life pics from googles... thanks cag

 

[Nasty135]

Cag, Your boys are very welcome /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif , I have a set of 10yr old twin boys that have an excitement for life /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif Kinda gives you a boost when the Old enthusiasm well runs a little low... /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif Its great when they think your the smartest Dad in the world .... About 5 more years for me and it will all change /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

 

[DAP]

Hard to say for sure because there is no scale available from the picture to size that bird ... and the bottom part of his tail is cut off in the pic ... a field mark required to positively ID the bird .... A Cooper's hawk is a possible guess but so is a Juvenile Goshawk or even a Merlin .... really tough to say .... I can say what its NOT real easy though!

LOL

 

[Michigan_Mike]

It could also be a Sharpshin hawk.
They look identical to the Coopers, but are a bit smaller.

 

[coopers]

Based on its size, it's an immature cooper's hawk. A little hard to tell if its female or male, looks like it could be a female. A sharp-shinned hawk has pencil thin legs, and their eyes are too big for their head. If we could see the tail we would also be able to tell, cooper's have a long rounded tail while the sharpies's is sqauirsh with a notch in it. A goshawk is a very large accipiter (family the cooper's and sharpies belong in) and the male goshawks are the size of a big female cooper's hawk. Merlins are very small falcons, the biggest of it's supspecies being the prairie or richardson's merlin. Here's a pic. of a merlin vs. a cooper's hawk in flight.

Blake
WA

 

[coopers]

Here's a merlin up close, a richardson's merlin.

Blake
WA

 

[coopers]

Here's an adult goshawk, the juv. look similar to cooper's like the original one at the begining of this thread, but they change color when adults like this. Notice how large it is compared to the mourning dove.

Blake
WA

 

[coopers]

Finally, here's one of a sharpy (sharp-shinned hawk). Both are immature birds. This one with its wings open is I belive a male based on its size. Notice how small it is and its squared tail. You can also see its left eye and how large it seems for its head.

Blake
WA