What bird is this?

[ATOMonkey]

I did not think it was a red tail at first because the tail is so long compared to its body. Is that another trait in young hawks? All the reds I see have fairly short tails.

 

[ATOMonkey]

For scale, those post toppers are about 4 inches tall. It also came swooping very low to the ground chasing some smaller birds. I have seen a very similar bird, if not the same one, diving (not landing) into trees. I assume it is chasing birds. It is very fast.

 

[BigBoxaJunk]

Nope. Still a red tail. Immatures have striped tails. All that white in the front without barring says red tail. A clearer pic, and one from the front, would have been appreciated, but it is what it is. Cooper's and sharp-shinned have solid-color backs without spots, tails are longer in comparison with the body and striping is more defined.

Qualification statement: I do bird ID for a living.

I concur with Spencer, it's a Redtail.

I don't get paid to do bird ID anymore, but I used to. I got out my old Indiana List and counted 161. The last new entry was Red Breasted Nuthatch in 2006.


Edit: After looking closer at the photo, I'm less sure that it's a red tail. The basic plump body shape, brown color on the back, with (apparently) a light breast says red tail, but those bold bars on the tail look much more like a Cooper's than a red-tail. As Indiucky alluded to, birds of prey can be tricky, especially juveniles in the winter, and especially when all you have is a grainy side-ways pic (no offense) And, the fact that it's sitting on the deck, and had been chasing birds would suggest that it's a Coopers, since red tails rarely go after birds. But, I could see a juvenile red-tail, inexperienced and hungry, chasing birds at a feeder.

After looking at more pics, like this one of a juvenile Coopers, I think ATO might be right that his hawk was a Coopers.

 

[spencer rifle]

OK, now that we have a scale measurement to go by, could be immature Coopers. Mature breast barring is horizontal, but immature is vertical, and could be hiding around the corner. Looks like I'll eat crow on this one (though the Coopers would enjoy it more).

 

[Tactically Fat]

If the hawk in the OP was noticeably chasing birds - then that pretty much rules out it being a RTH.

 

[snapping turtle]

Cooper’s are more rare than than sharpies. We have a coopers pair in Madison county just south of the Meyer store. Seems they love the birds on the signage in the area. Both are rather rare sightings in Indiana but not totally uncommon birds. When I asked a “birdie” if what I saw was a coopers or a sharpie he said to look at size and the tail. Male Coopers (adult) are the size of a crow and sharpies are the size of a large jay. Coopers will have a rounded tail and a sharpie will have a flat tail. He said the tail was the easy one if you see it in flight. Size is hard in flight as you have no basis to tell.

 

[KJQ6945]

Cooper’s are more rare than than sharpies. We have a coopers pair in Madison county just south of the Meyer store. Seems they love the birds on the signage in the area. Both are rather rare sightings in Indiana but not totally uncommon birds. When I asked a “birdie” if what I saw was a coopers or a sharpie he said to look at size and the tail. Male Coopers (adult) are the size of a crow and sharpies are the size of a large jay. Coopers will have a rounded tail and a sharpie will have a flat tail. He said the tail was the easy one if you see it in flight. Size is hard in flight as you have no basis to tell.

I think he gave you some bad information as far as the tails. Coopers and Sharp Shinned are both from the genus, accipiter, and have the same style tail. A Red Tailed Hawk is from a different genus, buteo. They have the shorter, more rounded tail.

 

[BigBoxaJunk]

I think he gave you some bad information as far as the tails. Coopers and Sharp Shinned are both from the genus, accipiter, and have the same style tail. A Red Tailed Hawk is from a different genus, buteo. They have the shorter, more rounded tail.

Yes, both Coopers and Sharp shinned are Accipiters, and they have very similar shapes, but the Sharp shinned does have a more square-looking tail as compared to a Coopers, but that's really only apparent if the tail feathers are fanned out, like when they are soaring. But, that's not really the best indicator, especially for beginning birders.

Once you know it's an Accipiter, size is usually the best indicator. Like someone said, Bluejay or Starling size is most likely a Sharp Shinned, and Crow size is most likely a Coopers Hawk.

If you're not sure, then you're not sure. I've not heard of Cooper's being more or less rare than Sharp Shinned, but I've not really been much of a birder in recent years.

 

[BigBoxaJunk]

When I was working for the Peregrine Fund, in West Virginia, we watched over 7 young Peregrine Falcons at a hack site. Toward the end of the season, when the falcons were getting pretty good at flying, they'd like to play around in the evenings when it cooled down. They'd fly out away from the cliffs and chase around with each other.

One evening, we did a double-take and realized that one of the falcons was actually a Coopers hawk, an immature like the falcons, come out of the thick forest to get in on the action. It was very cool to watch them play, especially with the two contrasting "styles". The Peregrines would try to lure the Coopers out into the open, so they could quickly rise up and then suddenly dive down on him. The Coopers would lure the Peregrines into the forest, dodging quickly around the trees before coming around the other side to catch the Peregrines by surprise. That Coopers hawk came out to play for a few evenings, then we didn't see him any more.

I wasn't paid much for that job, but those were some good times.

 

[KJQ6945]

When I was working for the Peregrine Fund, in West Virginia, we watched over 7 young Peregrine Falcons at a hack site. Toward the end of the season, when the falcons were getting pretty good at flying, they'd like to play around in the evenings when it cooled down. They'd fly out away from the cliffs and chase around with each other.

One evening, we did a double-take and realized that one of the falcons was actually a Coopers hawk, an immature like the falcons, come out of the thick forest to get in on the action. It was very cool to watch them play, especially with the two contrasting "styles". The Peregrines would try to lure the Coopers out into the open, so they could quickly rise up and then suddenly dive down on him. The Coopers would lure the Peregrines into the forest, dodging quickly around the trees before coming around the other side to catch the Peregrines by surprise. That Coopers hawk came out to play for a few evenings, then we didn't see him any more.

I wasn't paid much for that job, but those were some good times.

That sounds like a great job, even if the pay wasn't.
Ive never been a big bird guy, and I couldn't tell you the difference between a Coopers and a Sharp Shinned. I just learned the difference between the acipiters and the buteo.

 

[BigBoxaJunk]

My gun knowledge is pedestrian at best, so it's cool to get threads like these where I can add actual useful info for a change.

 

[indiucky]

I got out my old Indiana List and counted 161. The last new entry was Red Breasted Nuthatch in 2006.

Yeah sorry about that...My wife finally convinced me to get rid of those jeans...

(I'm jelly...My Indiana list got just above 100 or so before I slowed down on my bird watching....)

 

[bwframe]

Thread back to life please...

Seen a fishing bird that I cannot identify. Sorry for the weak camera phone pics. Anyone help with this?

 

[Tactically Fat]

Cormorant

 

[bwframe]

Thank you!