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Posts Tagged ‘Accipiter cooperii’

Cooper’s Hawk in January

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged , , , , , on January 30, 2022| 14 Comments »

As I was finishing up my walk through Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge last Wednesday, I spotted this hawk in a distant tree. The first thing that I noticed was the hawk’s long tail, which immediately suggested to me that it was a Cooper’s Hawk (Accipiter cooperii) and not a Red-shouldered Hawk, the hawk species that I am most accustomed to seeing at the wildlife refuge.

Cooper’s Hawks hang out in wooded areas rather than in open areas and when I see one, it is usually zigzagging its way through through the trees rather than flying above them. Although I was far away from the hawk, it had a clear view of me and took off shortly after I spotted it. As you can see from the second and third images, the hawk flew downwards towards the ground rather than rising up into the air.

As I was doing a little research on Cooper’s Hawks, I learned that life can be a little tricky for male Cooper’s Hawks—I am not sure if this one is a male or a female. According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, “As in most hawks, males are significantly smaller than their mates. The danger is that female Cooper’s Hawks specialize in eating medium-sized birds. Males tend to be submissive to females and to listen out for reassuring call notes the females make when they’re willing to be approached.”

 

Cooper's Hawk

Cooper's Hawk

Cooper's Hawk

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Cooper’s Hawk (immature)

Posted in Autumn, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on November 3, 2021| 11 Comments »

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.

 

Cooper's Hawk

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Cooper’s Hawk

Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on November 1, 2020| 17 Comments »

I spotted this bird from a distance on Friday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge when it was perched and when it took to the air. The tail struck me as being exceptionally long and the wings seemed relatively short in length, so I decided it was probably not a Red-shouldered Hawk or a Red-tailed Hawk, the two most common hawks where I live. Was it a falcon or one of the smaller hawks?

As I usually do in situations like this, I asked for help in a Facebook group devoted to birding in Virginia. Some experts there identified this as a mature Cooper’s Hawk (Accipiter cooperii). The Cornell Lab of Ornithology described the species with these words, “Among the bird world’s most skillful fliers, Cooper’s Hawks are common woodland hawks that tear through cluttered tree canopies in high speed pursuit of other birds…Finding a Cooper’s Hawk is typically a matter of keeping your eyes peeled – they’re common but stealthy, and smaller than other common hawks like the red-tailed, so your eye might skip over them in flight.”

Cooper’s Hawks are about the size of crows, although males are significantly smaller than their mates. Mating can therefore be a tricky proposition for a male Cooper’s Hawk, given that females Cooper’s Hawks specialize in eating smaller birds.

Cooper's Hawk

Cooper's Hawk

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

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Juvenile Cooper’s Hawk

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on March 28, 2019| 4 Comments »

This past Monday I spotted this juvenile Cooper’s Hawk (Accipiter cooperii) high in a tree at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Initially there were a lot of branches between us, but I was able to move slowly and stealthily closer to the little hawk and get a relatively clear shot of it.

Cooper's Hawk

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Watercolor hawk

Posted in Art, Birds, Nature, watercolor, wildlife, tagged , , , , , on August 10, 2018| 22 Comments »

I’m a real beginner in watercolors and probably should stick to exercises and simple subjects, but that is not what I want to paint. I’ll look at some of my wildlife photos and think, “I’d like to try to paint that,” knowing full well that I don’t really have the skills to do so. I figure, though, that I’ll learn as I go along, seeing what works and doesn’t work. So yesterday evening I decided to have a go at painting an immature Cooper’s Hawk (Accipiter cooperii) that I photographed recently.

I figured the best chance I had at making something recognizable was to simplify things, especially smaller, less important elements, like the leaves in the branches surrounding the hawk. I decided that I was not going to worry about making them realistic. I also realized that it would be tough for me to capture the fine details of the feathers, so I went for a more stylized approach. I decided to simplify my color palette too and used only three colors—lemon yellow, ultramarine blue, and burnt sienna.

So what happened? You can see and judge the results yourself. Some parts of the painting came out pretty well and other parts could use a lot of improvement.

I learned a lot in the process of doing this painting, most notably that I really enjoy mixing colors. It was rare that I used one of the three colors straight out of the pan, with one exception being the yellow eye. I paid a lot of attention to trying to vary my colors, especially in areas like the feathers.

I realize now that painting details is really tough—I’m hoping that practice will help me improve my control of the brushes. The biggest thing, perhaps, that I need to work on is controlling the amount of water that is on the brush and on the paper. I was blindsided a couple of times when the result I was expecting did not happen, most often when I had too much water in my brush. (I also need a whole lot of practice with sketching.)

I didn’t really try to copy my photo, but thought you might enjoy seeing the photograph that served as a general reference for me as I painted.

Thanks to the many readers who have encouraged me to keep painting. It is a little humbling to see how crude my initial efforts are, but it really is a lot of fun creating something from scratch—there is definitely something therapeutic about playing with paints.

watercolor hawk

Cooper's Hawk

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

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Immature Cooper’s Hawk

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, Summer, wildlife, tagged , , , , , on August 6, 2018| 10 Comments »

At this time of the year it’s tough for me to photograph birds—often when I spot them, they are mostly hidden in the foliage. This hawk, however, cooperated by perching out in the open this past Saturday at Jackson Miles Abbott Wetland Refuge. I was uncertain about the identification, so I checked with the experts in several Facebook birding groups and they indicated that this is an immature Cooper’s Hawk (Accipiter cooperii).

Cooper’s Hawks belong to the group of hawks called accipiters, also known as bird hawks. Accipiters have short rounded wings and a long tail and are better adapted to hunting in the woodlands that most other hawks.

Cooper's Hawk

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Hawk on a cloudy day

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on September 28, 2016| 16 Comments »

On Monday I spent a good amount of time watching this hawk in a distant tree at Huntley Meadows Park (and, alas, missed the shot when it flew away). There is something simultaneously beautiful and fierce about hawks and eagles that never fails to attract me. Clouds covered the sky for the entire day and there just wasn’t a whole lot of light to work with. That’s why this image has an almost monochromatic look, which makes the yellow color of the talons and the eye stand out even more prominently.
I think this is a Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo  lineatus), but would welcome a correction to my identification.
Update: A Facebook friend, who is a much more experience birder than I am, has suggested that this may be a juvenile Sharp-shinned Hawk (Accipiter striatus), while others say it is probably a juvenile Cooper’s Hawk (Accipiter cooperii ). Again I am proving to be identification-challenged.
Red-shouldered Hawk

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Cooper’s Hawk

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on September 26, 2015| 6 Comments »

As I walked toward a brush pile yesterday at my favorite marshland park, I flushed a bird. It flew to a a nearby tree and perched. Slowly I moved closer, hoping to get a better look at the bird, which seemed pretty large, though not as large as the eagles, ospreys, and hawks that I occasionally see at the park.

I took a series of shots and was disappointed at first that the head was not visible in any of them—the bird was hunched over and facing the opposite direction. Upon closer examination, I was thrilled when I noticed a bright yellow eye in one of the shots. That yellow eye and the long, rounded tail suggest to me that this is an immature Cooper’s Hawk (Accipiter cooperii). According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, adult Cooper’s Hawks have red eyes, while juveniles have yellow eyes.

The young hawk’s face is partially hidden in the image and the background is cluttered, but I am excited that I was able to capture an image of a species that I knew lived in the park, but that I had never before seen. Leaves are starting to fall from the trees and I hope that I will be able to spot more birds as the density of the foliage decreases. I can hear so many birds as I walk about, but so often they remain hidden from view.

Cooper's Hawk

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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