# Cooper's Hawk photo I got today



## stevebrandle (Jan 23, 2000)

Right place at the right time.


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## stevebrandle (Jan 23, 2000)

My new camera now implants a unique time stamp and GPS file to each original photo. Cool stuff, eh?


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## chednhy (Feb 8, 2012)

Very cool. Nice pics


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## cedarlkDJ (Sep 2, 2002)

Too cool! Excellent capture! Glad you like the new camera!


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## Steve (Jan 15, 2000)

Cool picture.


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## eucman (Jan 24, 2009)

Excellent shot of a cool bird!


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## sNeAkYpEtE11 (Feb 7, 2011)

Great pic


Posted using Outdoor Hub Campfire


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## stevebrandle (Jan 23, 2000)

Another. I like his red eyes.


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## St. Clair Slayer (Aug 31, 2009)

We watched one of these today too. It was on a roof top along 9 Mile west of Kelly. Brest had more orange less white. We thought it was a Grouse hawk or Coopers. My buddy seemed to think it may be a falcon. The tail sure looked like a ruffed grouse tail.


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## k9wernet (Oct 15, 2007)

Neat birds. They love bird feeders. And pigeon coops.


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## stevebrandle (Jan 23, 2000)

St. Clair Slayer said:


> We watched one of these today too. It was on a roof top along 9 Mile west of Kelly. Brest had more orange less white. We thought it was a Grouse hawk or Coopers. My buddy seemed to think it may be a falcon. The tail sure looked like a ruffed grouse tail.


The wife and I dug into the birdy identification book today and decided it is a Cooper's Hawk. Tell-tale signs are the rounded tail and white tail tips.


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## Firefighter (Feb 14, 2007)

Awesome pic! Had a nesting pair in my backyard all summer. They wiped out my chipmunk population!


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## Badgersbunk (Feb 7, 2011)

Beautiful bird. When I was a kid my moms boyfriend rescued a hawk that was losing a fight with a rat. We had it in our house for a few years before it died. We fed it raw meat and one time it ate my finger instead of the meat. I feel bad now. We should've let it go when it was healthy. I've still got the scar on my finger it took the whole thing in its mouth.


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## kroppe (May 7, 2000)

Great photo Steve! What part of Michigan was the bird? How big is a Cooper's compared to a Red Tailed or Red Shouldered hawk? I saw a hawk in central Newaygo county, in a thick oak/pine woods, during firearm deer season and it wasn't a red tailed. I think it was a red shouldered, but also wondering about a Cooper's.


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## stevebrandle (Jan 23, 2000)

kroppe said:


> Great photo Steve! What part of Michigan was the bird? How big is a Cooper's compared to a Red Tailed or Red Shouldered hawk? I saw a hawk in central Newaygo county, in a thick oak/pine woods, during firearm deer season and it wasn't a red tailed. I think it was a red shouldered, but also wondering about a Cooper's.


Saginaw Bay area. This hawk is smaller than a red tailed, and just a little smaller than a crow.


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## St. Clair Slayer (Aug 31, 2009)

Thanks for the ID. Sure was neat to watch. He had all the pigeons in the area pretty worked up. It was cool to watch.


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## Big Frank 25 (Feb 21, 2002)

stevebrandle said:


> The wife and I dug into the birdy identification book today and decided it is a Cooper's Hawk. Tell-tale signs are the rounded tail and white tail tips.


Sharp Shinned?


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## Ranger Ray (Mar 2, 2003)

stevebrandle said:


> My new camera now implants a unique time stamp and GPS file to each original photo. Cool stuff, eh?


No. 

You have to be careful and turn it off when posting to websites. Otherwise, everyone will know where you shot that big buck or caught that monster fish.


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## stevebrandle (Jan 23, 2000)

Big Frank 25 said:


> Sharp Shinned?


That's what we used to think they were. The tail feathers on a Coopers are supposed to be rounded with white tips. In this other picture I took you can see the tail pretty well. Sharp shinned tail is squared off with no white.


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## Tagz (Sep 22, 2005)

THem 2 are always hard to tell for me, especially from many pics at certain angles.
http://feederwatch.org/learn/tricky-bird-ids/coopers-hawk-and-sharp-shinned-hawk/


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## stevebrandle (Jan 23, 2000)

Tagz said:


> THem 2 are always hard to tell for me, especially from many pics at certain angles.
> http://feederwatch.org/learn/tricky-bird-ids/coopers-hawk-and-sharp-shinned-hawk/


No kidding. On your link it says the Cooper's is crow size and Sharp Shinned are dove or jay size. The ones around our house are crow size. Have people trained these? They seem to tolerate people well.


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## cedarlkDJ (Sep 2, 2002)

I just googled this Steve........http://highplainsfalconers.com/coop.php


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## Tagz (Sep 22, 2005)

stevebrandle said:


> No kidding. On your link it says the Cooper's is crow size and Sharp Shinned are dove or jay size. The ones around our house are crow size. Have people trained these? They seem to tolerate people well.


Yeah we can use them in falconry. I have never flown an accipiter, I know people who have. I hear they are fun, but challenging. Very high strung. Opposite of Red-tails which are what I have hunted with.


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## Tagz (Sep 22, 2005)

Also need to consider the fact that size wise there is some overlap. Females are larger then males. So the larger end of a female sharp shinned will be about the same as a small male Coopers.


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## METTLEFISH (Jan 31, 2009)

Tagz, 
I envy you. As a kid I read of Falconry, and the Laws that MI. had in place then. It was near impossible to obtain a Bird as I recall. Do you know of an Association of Falconers I could possibly become involved in? I would be thrilled to get to know someone near me that would take me along on a hunt, and perhaps Apprentice me as well.


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## Tagz (Sep 22, 2005)

METTLEFISH said:


> Tagz,
> I envy you. As a kid I read of Falconry, and the Laws that MI. had in place then. It was near impossible to obtain a Bird as I recall. Do you know of an Association of Falconers I could possibly become involved in? I would be thrilled to get to know someone near me that would take me along on a hunt, and perhaps Apprentice me as well.


The laws have changed a lot over the last 10 years. Especially the last few. Permits used to be both submitted by the State and Federal level. But recent regulation changes have allowed states to come up with their own regulations and once they meet and are approved by the federal level all permits are then handled through the state. Before I was involved in the sport falconers used to have to trap outside Michigan as Michigan had no trapping seasons set. That has now changed though. Its still not a quick simple process and should not be. A few links in my Signature below have tons of information. As for Associations, there is a State club here www.michiganhawkingclub.com and a North American Association here http://www.n-a-f-a.com/ . A useful and active forum here http://www.nafex.net/forum.php .

Which reminds me a great opportunity to learn more and go out hunting with others is coming up Feb. 14th at the Michigan Hawking Clubs annual Field Meet in Lansing. Its open to the public, fun time with auctions, Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner. Multiple hunting groups going out throughout the day that take groups with them. More information here.http://www.michiganhawkingclub.com/content.aspx?page_id=87&club_id=231484&item_id=352263

I currently am not flying a bird. I released my Red-Tailed Hawk and American Kestrel (falcon) both this last year. Was going to trap another Red-tailed during our fall trapping season (September 12-December 31) but decided to take this small game season off. I will get one this fall though. My Apprentice right now is hunting with a Red-tailed Hawk.


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