Cooper's Hawk
  Enjoying the Bird Bath
July 3, 2018

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29
July 3, 2018

18
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18b
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31
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36
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38
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42
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leaving the bath
July 3, 2018


nestmate
July 5, 2018, The hawk brought a nestmate  who wasn't as impressed as the first one.
Probably because there isn't enough room for two.  The birdbath is about 22 inches.



Photos ©Nicky Davis
After consulting several birding experts, I have labeled this bird a Cooper's Hawk.  Here are the points considered and pointed out by Kristin Purdy, a bird expert in our area.

"It is so young and fresh that it has fledged very recently.  At this time of year at our populated elevations, it would be quite unusual to have a Sharp-shinned Hawk because the species nests high in the mountains and it's early for them to be on the move.  But Cooper's nest in backyard woodlots and in city parks near where we live.  Besides the fact that the bird is generally brown and white to show its youth, the soft slate-blue color of the iris nails the age as a fledgling.  Features that show the species include the narrow, brown, vertical streaks on the breast (young Sharpies have "fat" rusty-brown blobby streaks sometimes termed "noodling", not as dark or crisp-looking), the paler nape and the tinges of buffy color on the head and upper breast.  Cooper's also have a longer head from front-to-back and that length makes the eye look like it's placed a little farther forward on the face.  A Sharpie's head isn't quite as long front to back and the eye tends to look more centered on the side of the head.  Finally, check your other images for the terminal band on the end of the tail.  I see it in one image.  This is more prominent in Cooper's and less prominent in Sharpie's;  the bird's terminal white tail band is strong enough that it supports other ID points as a Cooper's. " Kristin Purdy

Also I.D.'d by Keith Davis an expert birder from St. George, Utah


Photographed at Draper, Utah July 3, 2018