When I first spotted this stunning hawk last week at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, I was really struck by the length of its tail. I suspected therefore that it was not a Red-shouldered Hawk, the most common hawk species in our area, but the colors did not quite match up with my mental picture of a Cooper’s Hawk (Accipiter cooperii), the second species that came to mind. I scoured my hard-copy and on-line resources for information and similar shots and gradually came to the conclusion that it might be an immature Cooper’s Hawk.
I posted my photo and tentative identification to the Birding Virginia group in Facebook and was a little shocked to receive confirmation of the identification from multiple viewers. One response was particular helpful, because it helped me to focus on the reasons why they concluded that it was an immature Cooper’s Hawk—I love comments in which a person is willing to take the time to explain their reasoning. The viewer explained, “Long tail, short wings, outer tail feathers are shorter than the inner tail feathers, flat, squared head with a strong suborbital ridge. Yellow eye instead of red/orange, and brown feathers instead of gray feathers indicate that it is not an adult.”
I feel like I am always learning, gaining additional knowledge and honing my observational skills. Feedback really helps in that process and I always welcome questions, comments and suggestions from all of you.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
It’s a beauty, Mike. It’s especially nice to have that little “spread” of feathers to show off even more of its patterns.
Wonderful sighting, Mike, and great description from the FB group. Your capture really shows off the length of the tail; he’s a real beauty.
Very nice Mike! Always fun to photograph Hawks!
Great shot for getting all the details needed for an ID. Wry nice 😃
Pretty. I especially like that sycamore limb he is perched on!
Blue Rock Horses Frederick County, Virginia bluerockhorses.com
Super photograph of a young Cooper’s Hawk, Mike!
Around here, they are much less abundant than his Red-shouldered cousin so it’s always exciting to see one.
Great photo Mike. Such interesting plummage.
Looks like one of the Cooper’s Hawk juveniles in southern Arizona. We have the densest population of Cooper’s Hawks anywhere — not bragging, just stating a fact.
Beautiful portrait of a handsome bird.
Most lovely. I too am trying to keep learning!
[…] feathers and a slimmer body than this one. Here is a link to that 3 November 2021 posting entitles Cooper’s Hawk (immature), in case you want to do your own visual comparison between the two […]