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Birding/Juvenile Raptor Question

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Expert: Julia Booth - 8/17/2009


Question

Juvenile raptors
Can you please help me identify these 2 juvenile raptors?  I live in Alberta, Canada.  These birds were seen southwest of Calgary, near the foothills, in the countryside.  They were seen sitting on a fence, where they are seen usually once or twice a day often at 9 a.m., though usually they hide out in the mixed woods behind and call to the adults which we haven't seen.  The size of the birds is large-larger than crows.  The picture isn't that clear but the tail appears to have banding on it.  I was thinking it was a straightforward problem but became confused by the tail banding and the apparent lack of agreement with the images in the field guides I've consulted.  I'm interested to hear what you have to say!

Answer
My immediate thought is those are juvenile Cooper's Hawks. But I have never felt 100% confident about being able to tell a juvenile Cooper's from a juvenile Sharp-Shinned and because of the angle of the picture, I cannot get a clear shot at the field marks, the length and shape of the tail and how thick or far apart the bands are. The large breast and high center of gravity make me think it could be a Sharp-shinned.

The Sharp-Shinned alone is divided into three separate species, which have distinctly different markings.

Here is a tutorial on telling these two apart.

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/pfw/AboutBirdsandFeeding/accipiterIDtable.htm

Let me know if this helps you,

Julia

Julia Booth

Expertise

I can answer questions about bird identification (by sight or sound), behavior, distribution, population, conservation, mating, nesting, fledging and feeding. I do have some practical knowledge about foreign species, but identification skills are limited in that arena. Bear in mind that as much as I know, it's possible that at least some of you will ask a question that I am unable to answer. At which point I would direct you to wherever or whomever I thought could provide you with that information.

Experience

I have 15 years birding experience in Southern California.

Organizations
Audubon Society

Education/Credentials
My education is in art and photography -but I have a substantial portfolio of nature related work.

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