[CT Birds] hawks in Branford - 12/31

[Clay Taylor]

Donna -

You just need a little more confidence in your declaration of ID - the 13"
alone definitively says "Sharpie"!     Check any field guide for
measurements.

The square tail is all Sharpie - meaning the outer tail feathers are not
shorter that the central feathers (also known as the "deck feathers").   The
tail has no white band at the tips of the tail feathers, whereas a Coop has
a wide white band.    In late spring, a Coop may have worn off the white,
but not in January.

Look at the head profile - classic Sharpie, with the "notch" between the
forehead and the base of the bill.   A Coop has a continuous slope from the
crown to the bill.    Makes 'em look like a prizefighter - very pugnacious.

The heavy breast streaks of Sharpie contrast with the thin pinstriping of a
Coop, which gives Coop a much whiter appearance from the front.

If you don't have it, get Clark & Wheeler's Hawks of North America, or any
of Brian Wheeler's photographic raptor books.   I'm sure Fat Robin or the
Audubon Shop stock them.

Great pics,

Clay Taylor
Moodus, CT
ctaylor at att.net

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Sunshine" <sunny19682 at comcast.net>
To: <ctbirds at lists.ctbirding.org>
Sent: Tuesday, January 01, 2008 10:49 AM
Subject: [CT Birds] hawks in Branford - 12/31


> >From Donna Lorello:
>
>
>
> 12/31 - around 3:30 pm.  My apologies for not posting yesterday.  In my
ever
> growing desire to feel completely comfortable identifying the sharpie from
> the coopers, I'll greatly appreciate a correction to the ID if I am wrong
> again - bird was around 13 inches top of head to tip of tail give or take
a
> little (educated guess based on the photo of the bird sitting on the
lattice
> fence - the half square opening is 1.75 inches and I gauged that against
the
> total height of the bird), small roundish head - little to no visible
> terminal band on the tail feathers.  Pictures posted in Webshots -
> http://community.webshots.com/user/arcadian7.   I have plenty more if
these
> are not sufficient.
>
>
>
> There was a Coopers earlier in the day - around 10am or so - bird was
> obviously larger - crow sized with rounded tail when spread and front
showed
> the typical streaking that was pointed out to me by Greg.
>
>
>
> I want to thank the bird for the photo ops - this was an incredible
> encounter - the bird never flew too far from me at any given time during
the
> half hour it was present and was no more than 20 feet away at each
location
> in the yard that I took pictures.
>
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