What kind of raptor am I: Accipiter edition!

This is a Cooper’s Hawk! Unlike large and bulky buteos, accipiters have a slimmer overall look highlighted by their long tails and short, rounded wings. You’ll be asked about more field marks later in this quiz!

Photo credit Sophia Landis.

This Sharp-shinned Hawk is in its first year of life! Before gaining the blueish-gray back and horizontal breast streaking of adulthood, accipiters have browner plumage with vertical breast streaking. The streaking on all juvenile accipiters is typically dark brown. Eye color can also help indicate age, since juvenile accipiters are typically born with pale yellow eyes that turn orange or red as they grow older.

How do we know this Sharp-shinned Hawk is less than a year old? Sharpies molt into adult plumage during their second summer, which makes this a hatch year bird. Photo credit J. Ligouri.

There are a number of ID points visible, but the best choice here was C: A dark cap and a flat, large head. Cooper’s Hawks have caps and large blocky heads, while Sharp-shinned hawks have napes and smaller rounded heads. Members of both species have banded tails and adults have dark eyes, so that information alone can’t be used to differentiate between the two. Similarly, adults of both species have grey plumage and rufous horizontally streaked breasts. Sharp-shinned hawks have blurrier breast streaking, but we can’t use that as a field mark if we can’t see it. Photo credit S. Landis.

This is a Sharp-Shinned Hawk! It has a dark, uniform nape, a small, rounded head, a very thinly banded tail (most of it is absent due to feather wear), and large eyes relative to head size. Photo credit J. Ligouri.

My long tail, short rounded wings, and hunting behavior make me an accipiter! While falcons are acrobatic, they have long pointed wings. Eagles and buteos both have long, broad wings and broad tails. They are expert soarers, but they don’t dart through thick brush like I do!

My slate grey cap and white eyebrow are excellent field marks! I’m a Northern Goshawk! Photo credit J. Ligouri.

I’m a juvenile Cooper’s Hawk! I have brown, vertically streaked plumage and a light-colored eye, which ID me as a juvenile. My crisp teardrop streaking and large, blocky head ID me as a Cooper’s Hawk. Photo credit J. Ligouri. 

I’m a Sharp-shinned Hawk! While size isn’t always helpful when you see me from a distance, it can be very helpful when you have me in hand. But large Sharp-shinned females can be about the same size as small Cooper males, so make sure you know your field marks!

My rounded head, dark gray nape, and large ‘buggy’ eye make me a Sharp-shinned Hawk! Photo credit J. Ligouri.

My large, square-ish head and dark gray cap make me a Cooper’s Hawk. Remember, Cooper’s have caps! Photo credit J. Ligouri.