KJS-LES 6 Posted January 14 Share Posted January 14 Has anyone seen this? (I'm in NYC; photos from Nov 29, 2020) Kami Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Aidan B 559 Posted January 14 Share Posted January 14 I've never seen anything like that before, it's usually the crows chasing the Raptors around. By the way, the kestrel is actually a Cooper's/Sharp-shinned Hawk. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
KJS-LES 6 Posted January 14 Author Share Posted January 14 2 hours ago, Aidan B said: I've never seen anything like that before, it's usually the crows chasing the Raptors around. By the way, the kestrel is actually a Cooper's/Sharp-shinned Hawk. I've seen Crows dive bombing Red-Tails. This get-together still amazes me. I thought a Cooper's is larger than a Crow (and a Kestrel) and smaller than a Red-Tail, and darker. I have no idea what a Sharp-shinned looks like. 🙂 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Aaron 456 Posted January 14 Share Posted January 14 Cooper’s hawks can have variable sizes, with males being much smaller than females. Females are more similar in size to crows. Sharp-shinned hawks look virtually the same as Cooper’s (they often get confused and one of the most asked questions on here), but in general are smaller. Yet, large Sharp-shinneds can be the same size as small Coopers and size isn’t always easy to evaluate. Theres a few things to look for when separating the two, but, at least for me, can’t see any of those with these photos to be 100% sure. Probably would lean Cooper’s though 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Avery 762 Posted January 14 Share Posted January 14 6 hours ago, Aaron said: Cooper’s hawks can have variable sizes, with males being much smaller than females. Females are more similar in size to crows. Sharp-shinned hawks look virtually the same as Cooper’s (they often get confused and one of the most asked questions on here), but in general are smaller. Yet, large Sharp-shinneds can be the same size as small Coopers and size isn’t always easy to evaluate. Theres a few things to look for when separating the two, but, at least for me, can’t see any of those with these photos to be 100% sure. Probably would lean Cooper’s though Just to add on about the size thing. Male sharpies are the smallest, being about the size of a blue Jay. Female sharpies and male Coopers are roughly the same size, and female Coopers are big, almost like a red-tail Quote Link to post Share on other sites
IKLland 337 Posted January 14 Share Posted January 14 10 hours ago, Aaron said: Cooper’s hawks can have variable sizes, with males being much smaller than females. Females are more similar in size to crows. Sharp-shinned hawks look virtually the same as Cooper’s (they often get confused and one of the most asked questions on here), but in general are smaller. Yet, large Sharp-shinneds can be the same size as small Coopers and size isn’t always easy to evaluate. Theres a few things to look for when separating the two, but, at least for me, can’t see any of those with these photos to be 100% sure. Probably would lean Cooper’s though Like @Averysaid also, there confusion of size with the two is when a female sharpie can be the same size as a male coop Quote Link to post Share on other sites
KJS-LES 6 Posted January 14 Author Share Posted January 14 Thanks all for the interesting information. There are Cooper's Hawks in this area, so I'd go with that too. (Red-tails are the most common here (lower Manhattan); occasionally, one will fly right by my 19th floor window. So where do Kestrels fit in on the size "scale"? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Aidan B 559 Posted January 14 Share Posted January 14 3 minutes ago, KJS-LES said: So where do Kestrels fit in on the size "scale"? I've always thought that kestrels are about the size of a Mourning Dove, if not smaller 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
chipperatl 373 Posted January 14 Share Posted January 14 Were they mobbing it? I've seen crows mob a COHA, and the COHA would chase after them. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
KJS-LES 6 Posted January 14 Author Share Posted January 14 1 hour ago, Aidan B said: I've always thought that kestrels are about the size of a Mourning Dove, if not smaller They look larger to me, maybe because they're "posture" is so different, they're so colorful. 🙂 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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