Accipiter cooperii
Cooper's hawk Photo
by Don Baccus
Accipiter cooperii
AKA: Chicken hawk; big blue darter
SIZE: 14 to 21 inches
WINGSPAN: 27 to 36 inches
FLIGHT SPEED: 21 to 55 MPH
FEEDING HABITS: Eats mostly small mammals and birds. Occasionally fish. Most common bird taken by cooper's hawk is the starling. Sometimes flies with prey to water in order to drown it.
IDENTIFICATION: Long narrow tail with rounded corners. Short rounded wings. Head projects forward, ahead of wrists, in flight. Uses short flaps, followed by glides and is "Steady in the wind". Back is blue-grey and top of head is blackish. Nape is pale, providing line of contrast between back and head. Breast and belly are cross-barred with reddish-brown. Head has square appearance when hackles are raised.
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Hear the Cooper's call
