This Sharp-sinned hawk was, I suspect, eyeing the birds who were enthusiastically feeding after the massive amounts of snow dumped the previous day. I thought at first that it was a Cooper’s Hawk; they tend to hang out at bird feeders since they prey on smaller birds. But it’s often difficult to distinguish a Cooper’s Hawk from a Sharp-shinned hawk. I have therefore appealed to a higher authority for a final determination. Said authority said:
The spots on the back suggest Cooper’s Hawk, but the head shape, the pale line over the eye, and the limited white at the tip of the tail say Sharp-shinned.
The official verdict, based in part on the size of the bird: Sharp-shinned.
I made a short video of the unspecified hawk.
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