# Bird People: Please help identify this hawk
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bird-people-please-help-identify-this-hawk/387602
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [January 11, 2007, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bird-people-please-help-identify-this-hawk/387602 "2007-01-11T20:27:00Z")
**Posts on this page:** 6
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@LateComer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LateComer)
#### Post date: [January 11, 2007, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bird-people-please-help-identify-this-hawk/387602/1 "2007-01-11T20:27:00Z")
[I took this picture of this hawk in my yard last week.](http://www.people.iup.edu/donspade/hawk.jpg) I live in Western Pennsylvania. For size reference, he’s sitting on a 2x4 so that the side of the board that you can see is 3.75 inches tall. When the picture was taken he was eyeing up a chipmunk in my neighbor’s yard which he soon flew over and ate.
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### Author:  [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)
#### Post date: [January 11, 2007, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bird-people-please-help-identify-this-hawk/387602/2 "2007-01-11T20:54:16Z")
I’ll go with juvenile Cooper’s Hawk, but I lost this argument last time :D. The other possibility, as always, is a juvenile Sharp-Shinned Hawk.
Juvenile accipiters are always kind of a bitch to ID.
- Tamerlane
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### Author:  [@Can\_Handle\_the\_Truth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Can_Handle_the_Truth)
#### Post date: [January 11, 2007, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bird-people-please-help-identify-this-hawk/387602/3 "2007-01-11T21:28:03Z")
According to [Whatbird.com](http://Whatbird.com), you may choose from among [these.](http://identify.whatbird.com/mwg/59/00X012Jl-OR00C011BO-OR/1/12/attrs.aspx)
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### Author:  [@Powder\_Blue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Powder_Blue)
#### Post date: [January 11, 2007, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bird-people-please-help-identify-this-hawk/387602/4 "2007-01-11T23:28:29Z")
It’s a Cooper’s.
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### Author:  [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)
#### Post date: [January 11, 2007, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bird-people-please-help-identify-this-hawk/387602/5 "2007-01-11T23:37:22Z")
[QUOTE=Tamerlane]
I’ll go with juvenile Cooper’s Hawk, but I lost this argument last time :D.
[/QUOTE]
This time I agree with you. 🙂 The big blocky head and rounded tail in particular say Cooper’s to me.
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### Author:  [@LateComer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LateComer)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2007, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bird-people-please-help-identify-this-hawk/387602/6 "2007-01-12T13:08:07Z")
[QUOTE=Can Handle the Truth]
According to [Whatbird.com](http://Whatbird.com), you may choose from among [these.](http://identify.whatbird.com/mwg/59/00X012Jl-OR00C011BO-OR/1/12/attrs.aspx)
[/QUOTE]
That’s a great site which I did not find googling. Thanks for the replies, I would concur with juvenile Cooper’s Hawk based on those pictures and the sound of the call which I did hear though I of course know nothing about birds of prey or I wouldn’t have asked in the first place.