67Firebird
Former political advocate
Reged: 12/14/05
Posts: 9170
Loc: Russellville, Mo
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A small hawk swooped past my chickens, but didn't attack. I didn't get a good look at it, but I think it was bigger than a Kestrel and smaller than a Red Tail (maybe the size of a Crow). It looked sleek, rather than the thicker look of a Red Tail, and was barred (black and white).
Any idea what it was? 
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wuchang
spiritual advisor and gatekeeper to the Spirit World
Reged: 12/14/05
Posts: 5207
Loc: uphill
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look like this???
link to images of Cooper's Hawk
http://www.lloydspitalnikphotos.com/v/birds_of_prey/coopers_hawk/
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Mac
Birding Moderator
Reged: 12/14/05
Posts: 3379
Loc: The Great State of Nebraskey
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Wu is prolly 95% right on this guess.
Only other possibility could be the Sharp-shinned. In either case an accipiter was most likely what you saw. Do you live in the woods or more in the open? Sharp-shinned are more woodland birds, where the Cooper's is more likely to be seen in open areas. If you see it perched somewhere, they are pretty easy to distinguish. 
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sptsman
member
Reged: 12/14/05
Posts: 6192
Loc: Missouri
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We have both in our area and I have a very hard time telling them apart. I mostly just go Cliff Clavin on the matter and act like I am sure of the identification I just made... 
The only things I've ever been told or read that would work are the size, Cooper's being slightly larger and the body shape. If it is one width from head to tail, it is probably a Cooper's. If it tapers back a little from the head to the tail, it is probably a sharp-shinned. Most of the time, you don't have a frame of reference for size, so that one isn't much help. And the body shape can be hard to see from many angles, so that one frequently doesn't work. Again, I defer to the Cliff Clavin approach...
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"Hunts are best measured by the endurance of the memories they produce..."
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67Firebird
Former political advocate
Reged: 12/14/05
Posts: 9170
Loc: Russellville, Mo
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Bill, that sure looks like it. I only got a quick look as it crossed the yard, and went into the trees, but the colors are right.
Mac, my place is mostly woods, but it's surrounded by pastures and crops (in the creek bottoms).
I think I'll take Andys Cliff Clavin approach, and just say that Bill got it for sure. 
Thanks for the help.
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Mac
Birding Moderator
Reged: 12/14/05
Posts: 3379
Loc: The Great State of Nebraskey
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More by coincidence than by design, I presently live in a condo adjacent to a seasonal wetland that is the drainage in the neighborhood. This has been providing me the opportunity to watch a Cooper's up close, numerous times.
I have watched this predator from 40 ft. suffocate, shred and devour one of the finches or juncos visiting my feeders.
Another time I saw it land on the ground and dash into the brush and weeds like a beagle after a rabbit! Not sure if the hawk was after a rodent or bird...but I had only seen him swoop past the feeders previously.
In total I have seen the Cooper's here a half-dozen times. Lots of time spent studying the head, profile, tail and plumage in perfect light.
But, in the end, as the rest of you guys know, unless you get to see more than a "streak through the neighborhood," it is nearly impossible to be sure which accipiter it is.....
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last_stand
the gay card thrower Call Me Ragnar
Reged: 12/14/05
Posts: 7737
Loc: anywhere but "HomeofToto"
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A buddy saw a Cooper kill a squirrel a few years back.
Dive bombed it in a leaf pile and must of gotten it's claws on its head and throat and just squeezed it to death. Lots of wrastling and thrashing went on for 10 minutes but that bird never let go and somehow flew off with that thing.
They aren't huge by any means but they have a pretty big wing span. They love to nail doves for sure. And I hear they don't use sauce either.
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Sometimes you got it sometimes you get got.
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DuckMeRunnin
member
Reged: 12/17/05
Posts: 2739
Loc: Missouri
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When I was married, we had a resident Cooper's.
He killed birds by the feeder and on the back deck. It crashed through a lilac bush and into the side of the house to kill a sparrow.
One day as I backed into the driveway, the neighbor came over and handed me a pic of it. It was atop of our chimney, shredding a woodpecker.
They're bad ass little birds.
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IIFID
Bond....Timmy Bond
Reged: 12/15/05
Posts: 8066
Loc: Nipawin, Saskatchewan
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Jake and I saw one chase down, knock down, de-feather and eat a mourning dove in my front yard years ago. Some of the most bad-assed aerials I have ever seen. Happened in about 3 seconds. The fact that it our manuevered a dove was amazing!
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Thought for the day; “It’s impossible to think outside of the box when all you do is think about getting inside of the box.”
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67Firebird
Former political advocate
Reged: 12/14/05
Posts: 9170
Loc: Russellville, Mo
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Greg, any chance you could post that pic? 
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DuckMeRunnin
member
Reged: 12/17/05
Posts: 2739
Loc: Missouri
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Kurt,
The dude handed me a pic that he had printed. I have no idea what ever happened to it.
BTW, the calls they make are the easiest way to tell the Cooper's from the Sharp Shinned.
Timmy, those short wings and that long tail allow those little swoopers to put on an agility clinic.
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dabs
Reged: 12/13/05
Posts: 5971242
Loc: New Money, USA
Current High Scores in:
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I saw a Cooper but it wasn't very big at all. I am assuming it was a Mini
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67Firebird
Former political advocate
Reged: 12/14/05
Posts: 9170
Loc: Russellville, Mo
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67Firebird
Former political advocate
Reged: 12/14/05
Posts: 9170
Loc: Russellville, Mo
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I saw a bunch of high-flying birds over my house today, heading South. It took maybe thirty seconds for all of them to go by, so there had to be hundreds of them.
They look like some kind of hawks to me...
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