I give up.
I really do.
I’m just calling it a hawk and leaving it at that.
Sorry.
Because here it is.
A juvenile Cooper’s Hawk.
Probably.
Unless it’s a Sharp-shinned Hawk.
Which it probably isn’t.
But could be.
Welcome to bird identification’s version of an IRS audit.
At first, I was delighted.
I spotted the young hawk perched in a tree, beautifully framed by the leaves, and immediately began taking pictures.
I knew exactly what I had photographed.
A hawk.
Beyond that, negotiations broke down.
The problem is that juvenile Cooper’s Hawks and juvenile Sharp-shinned Hawks apparently signed a secret agreement to look almost exactly alike.
Brown backs.
Long, banded tails.
White breasts covered in brown streaks.
Yellow eyes.
Long legs.
And the unmistakable expression of a bird that knows you have absolutely no idea what you are looking at.
So I began the identification process.
First, check the head.
A Cooper’s Hawk has a relatively large head that projects well beyond the wings.
A Sharp-shinned Hawk has a smaller, rounder head.
Excellent.
I enlarged the photograph.
The head looked large.
Then small.
Then large again.
Then it simply looked like a head.
I moved on.
Next, examine the legs.
Sharp-shinned Hawks supposedly have extremely thin legs—the “sharp shins” that gave them their name.
Cooper’s Hawks have thicker, sturdier legs.
I zoomed in until the pixels were the size of bathroom tiles.
The legs looked reasonably substantial.
Cooper’s!
But then I wondered whether the legs only looked thick because they were covered in feathers.
Sharp-shinned!
Or perhaps the branch was creating an optical illusion.
Cooper’s!
At this point, even the hawk appeared to be losing patience with me.
Then came the tail.
This is supposed to be helpful.
A Cooper’s Hawk generally has a longer, more rounded tail because its outer tail feathers are shorter than the central ones. A Sharp-shinned Hawk tends to have a squarer-looking tail, with feathers closer to the same length.
I studied the tail.
It looked rounded.
Mostly.
Except where it looked square.
And one leaf was covering part of it, presumably because the tree had been retained as legal counsel.
Then there is the white band at the tip of the tail.
Cooper’s Hawks often have a broader white terminal band.
Sharp-shinned Hawks generally have a narrower one.
This bird had a visible white tip.
Broad enough for a Cooper’s?
Possibly.
Narrow enough for a Sharp-shinned?
Also possibly.
Thank you for clearing that up.
Size should settle it.
Cooper’s Hawks are larger.
Sharp-shinned Hawks are smaller.
Unfortunately, the bird declined to perch beside a ruler.
There wasn’t even a conveniently positioned Blue Jay, Mourning Dove, regulation softball, or unopened can of soup nearby for scale.
And size is especially treacherous because female Sharp-shinned Hawks can approach the size of male Cooper’s Hawks.
Of course they can.
Apparently, ornithology was designed by people who thought Sudoku was too relaxing.
The breast streaking offers another clue.
A juvenile Cooper’s Hawk usually shows finer, more defined vertical streaks, often concentrated on the upper breast. A young Sharp-shinned Hawk may appear more heavily and diffusely streaked below.
This bird’s markings look long, narrow, and fairly crisp.
Cooper’s!
Unless the lighting, distance, posture, foliage, camera angle, atmospheric conditions, or current position of Jupiter is affecting the appearance.
Sharp-shinned!
Finally, I looked at the bird’s overall build.
Cooper’s Hawks often appear bigger-headed, longer-necked, and more substantial.
Sharp-shinned Hawks tend to look more compact, with a smaller head and thinner legs.
This bird looks rather substantial.
Confident.
Broad through the body.
And equipped with a head that seems noticeably large for an accipiter.
So, after carefully examining the head, legs, tail, breast, proportions, posture, attitude, and what I can only describe as its general hawkiness, I have reached a conclusion.
I believe this is a juvenile Cooper’s Hawk.
Strongly.
Confidently.
Probably.
Let us call it 85 percent Cooper’s Hawk, 10 percent Sharp-shinned Hawk, and 5 percent bird deliberately withholding evidence.
Because that is the final indignity.
The hawk knew exactly what it was.
It sat there quietly while I took picture after picture, then went home to enlarge, compare, measure, consult field guides, stare at tail feathers, reconsider my life choices, and question whether I had ever successfully identified a bird.
It could have helped.
One little gesture would have done it.
A profile.
A fully spread tail.
Perhaps a tiny laminated identification card held in its beak.
Instead, it merely stared into the distance with the serene confidence of someone who knew the answer—and wasn’t telling.
Cooper’s or Sharp-shinned?
I’m going with Cooper’s.
Unless someone knows better.
In which case, please be gentle.
I’ve already been through enough.
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