oc_birder
Sharp-shinned Hawk
A Sharp-shinned Hawk that was circling high over Santiago Park, in northeast Santa Ana (Orange County), CA. 3 December, 2016. Appears to show the proportionately shorter tail (vs. Cooper's), with the sharply squared off tail tip. The head size and projection beyond the plane of the wings appears relatively small, this being accentuated in Sharp-shins by the wings, which when soaring are often held just slightly forward from the body (in the above photo this appears fairly subtle, but can be more pronounced in this species). Cooper's, when soaring, always seem to hold their wings straight out--perpendicular to the body--which helps to accentuate the head projection beyond the plane of the wings. Lastly, although this bird was getting fairly distant, it does not appear to show a prominent white terminal band on the tail, which is normally easy to see on a Cooper's Hawk.
Sharp-shinned Hawk
A Sharp-shinned Hawk that was circling high over Santiago Park, in northeast Santa Ana (Orange County), CA. 3 December, 2016. Appears to show the proportionately shorter tail (vs. Cooper's), with the sharply squared off tail tip. The head size and projection beyond the plane of the wings appears relatively small, this being accentuated in Sharp-shins by the wings, which when soaring are often held just slightly forward from the body (in the above photo this appears fairly subtle, but can be more pronounced in this species). Cooper's, when soaring, always seem to hold their wings straight out--perpendicular to the body--which helps to accentuate the head projection beyond the plane of the wings. Lastly, although this bird was getting fairly distant, it does not appear to show a prominent white terminal band on the tail, which is normally easy to see on a Cooper's Hawk.