Which accipiter(s)?

[Grandpa577]

Taken at different times at Jones Beach West End

Accipiter_1151ax by Bob Anderson, on Flickr

[egosnell2002]

All Cooper's for me.

[Creeker]

3 hours ago, egosnell2002 said:

All Cooper's for me.

Yup.

[Tony Leukering]

Juv Coops have:

1) Tawny hoods, which give the birds a quite different look from juv Sharpies

2) Well-defined streaking below that is usually (but nowhere near always) blackish, with few or no cross-bars; unlike Sharpie's messy streaking that is only rarely blackish and most streaks have cross-bars, particularly on the sides

3) The r6s (rectrix 6 -- the outermost feather on each side of the tail) noticeably shorter than the longest rectrices and nearly always has the r5s (the next feather in) also shorter than the longest, but longer than the r6s -- the tail is graduated -- this feature is particularly noticeable in the two right-hand images

 

On very sharp pix (such as these), one can also see the shape of the tip of the r6. In Coop, the tip of the feather (that is, the part that extends the farthest from the base of the feather) is usually at the feather shaft, while the tip of the r6 in Sharpies is generally at the outside corner of the feather or, at least, toward the outside of the feather from the shaft. This feature is not absolute in both directions, but any juv accip that is either a Coop or a Sharpie that has the tip of the r6 at the shaft is NOT a Sharpie.

[Grandpa577]

Thank you