Hawk ID

I saw another hawk in the water tray we leave out back in the desert but I am not sure about this one. At first I thought it was a juvenile Red Tailed but now I am leaning towards juvenile Cooper's Hawk the more I look at my NG field guide. Taken in Tucson, AZ.
Thanks for ID help.
Jim

I would say it's almost certainly a juv. Cooper's hawk - definately not a red-tailed. It may be a Sharp-shinned, but based on the size of the dish I'd say Coopers.

I would second the Coopers. When I looked at the image my first reaction was Coopers.

It is definetly a memeber of the Accipiters. But not knowing how big the the dish is to give some reference to size it is hard to say. The Coopers and Sharpshinned look almost identical other than some differences in markings on tail feathers and size of the bird. A tercil coopers and a female sharp-shinned are almost the same size. Do some reserch and see which one or if both are found in you'r area this time of year. But all in all still a nice photo!

Jim, it's definitely a Coop. The best mark in this pic (and the best mark in general) for separating juvenile Sharp-shinned from Cooper's is the breast streaking. On a Coop it's thin and crisp, it's much denser on a Sharpie.

The white plumage and streaking kind of through me off since the Red Tails seem have so much variation and it did not look like one of the mature Cooper's that come around. Thanks for the confirmation of ID.
Jim

Juvy Coops it is, and I'll go so far as to confidently state that fact and differentiate it from a sharpie on the basis of of the size of the vertical (rachal and pararachal) streaks of the breast feathers. A sharpie is not, as seems commonly believed, a miniature Cooper's in all regards. It is similar, but in several regards a smaller and disproportionate version of the jarger Coop's. Their breast feathers - in fact all their feathers exclusive of the flight feathers and remiges - are disproportionately longer and wider than those of the larger Coopers. The Cooper's has a greater number of feathers growing from each feather tract. The pararachal streaks of the juvenile plumage of the Coop's are, in keeping with the feathers so marked, thus disproportionately more narrow, shorter, and more numerous than those of a juvy sharpie.

And judging from the grit of the nearby sand, I'd bet on it being a male Cooper's...but I'll grant that....that's a little iffy...

Dave Graham,
East River, SD.