Help Identifying Bird of prey (1 Viewer)

[ad73041]

Saw this fellow in my neighborhood chowing down. I'm not sure if it's a northern harrier or a Cooper's hawk, I'm not an expert or even an avid watcher by any means. This was taken in my neighborhood 15 minutes south of Nashville.

 

[KenM]

It’s an immature Accipiter.👍

 

[Butty]

Welcome to BF.
Immature of either Cooper's hawk or sharp-shinned hawk - not safely identifiable from these photos.

 

[ad73041]

It’s an immature Accipiter.👍

I will say that I know my pictures aren't great but I was 15 feet away from it and it seemed bigger than that. It was close to twenty inches long I'd say from break to end of tail. I also am unsure of how length of birds are actually measured, so that could be meaningless.

 

[qwerty5]

Certainly a Cooper's or Sharp-shinned Hawk. I would tend towards Cooper's myself, based on body proportions and tail shape. Size is surprisingly hard to estimate, especially for lone birds.

 

[Butty]

it seemed bigger than that. It was close to twenty inches long I'd say

There is no doubt that it is one of the two species I noted. Judging the size of a lone bird, even for a skilled experienced observer and with close proximity, is notoriously unreliable.

 

[01101001]

The measurement could be made more detailed (maybe) if that stone on the right or the section of the pipe parallel to the bird were of known length.

 

[Jeff Hopkins]

The nape appears to be lighter than the crown, which points to Cooper's.

 

[Butty]

The nape appears to be lighter than the crown, which points to Cooper's.

As far as I'm aware, this is not an ID feature for immatures.

 

[Jeff Hopkins]

As far as I'm aware, this is not an ID feature for immatures.

I was not aware of that.

Live and learn.

 

[Andy Adcock]

I will say that I know my pictures aren't great but I was 15 feet away from it and it seemed bigger than that. It was close to twenty inches long I'd say from break to end of tail. I also am unsure of how length of birds are actually measured, so that could be meaningless.

Wrong Habitat for the Harrier anyway.

 

[delia todd]

Hi ad and a warm welcome to you from all the Staff and Moderators.

I'm sure you will enjoy it here and I look forward to hearing your news.

 

[lou salomon]

shorter outer tail feathers and white tips point towards Cooper's. Coopers Hawk vs. Sharp-Shinned Hawk Identification , note especially this graph: https://www.birdwatching-bliss.com/image-files/coopers-hawk-sharp-shinned-hawk-tail.jpg