Cooper's Hawk Similar Species Comparison
Main SpeciesCooper's Hawk
Adult
Upright posture with a long tail. Bluish-gray upperparts with a contrasting black cap and a red eye. Underparts are pale with dense reddish barring. Bill is fairly small and strongly hooked.
© Evan Lipton / Macaulay LibraryRhode Island, February 11, 2017Adult
Bluish-gray upperparts contrast with the paler cheek and dark cap. Note the long rounded tail with a wide white terminal band.
© County Lister Brendan / Macaulay LibraryMichigan, January 17, 2021Adult
Adult Cooper's Hawks have gray backs, reddish-barred chests, and reddish eyes. Note the sharp division between the black cap and gray nape (neck).
© DAVID BROWN / Macaulay LibraryNew York, April 01, 2005Not all videos have sound
Immature
Immature has brown upperparts, white underparts with brown streaking, and yellow eyes.
© Brian Sullivan / Macaulay LibraryCalifornia, November 04, 2017Immature
Immature is brownish above, and like adults, has a large head and long, banded tail.
© Mike Schijf / Macaulay LibraryUtah, October 02, 2020Adult
Accipiters like Cooper's Hawk have rounded wings and very long tails. In flight, look for Cooper's Hawk's large head that projects out ahead of the wings. The long tail often appears slightly rounded at the tip.
© Larry Arbanas / Macaulay LibraryArizona, May 05, 2006Not all videos have sound
Immature
Upright posture with a long tail. Immatures have brown upperparts that contrast with white underparts that have strong brown streaking. Note the yellow eye.
© Mason Maron / Macaulay LibraryWashington, September 01, 2019Adult
In flight shows relatively short, rounded wings and a long, rounded tail with thick bands. Note that its head projects well beyond its wings.
© Alex Lamoreaux / Macaulay LibraryMinnesota, October 10, 2016Adult
Note the very long tail compared to the wings—a distinctive feature of accipiters. The sharp black cap contrasting with the gray nape is a good ID feature for Cooper's Hawk.
© DAVID BROWN / Macaulay LibraryNew York, April 01, 2005Not all videos have sound
Immature
In flight shows relatively short, rounded wings and a long, rounded tail with thick bands. Note the wide white terminal band on tail, which can sometimes help with identification.
© Jean-Sébastien Mayer / Macaulay LibraryQuebec, September 12, 2016Immature
In flight from above, upperparts on immatures are brown with paler barring in the wings and tail. Note the larger head that sticks out well beyond the wings.
© Byron Stone / Macaulay LibraryTexas, November 26, 2016Adult with prey
Accipiters are specialist predators that eat mostly birds. They sometimes hunt at backyard feeders.
© Timothy Barksdale / Macaulay LibraryMissouri, March 28, 1997Not all videos have sound
Adult
From some angles white undertail contrasts with the reddish barred underparts and bluish-gray upperparts.
© Ryan Schain / Macaulay LibraryMassachusetts, December 06, 2016Similar SpeciesSharp-shinned Hawk
Adult (Northern)
Sharp-shinned Hawks have a smaller and rounder head than Cooper's Hawks, which have a squared head with more of a capped look.
© robert beauchamp / Macaulay LibraryColorado, April 29, 2017Similar SpeciesSharp-shinned Hawk
Immature (Northern)
If seen up close, Sharp-shinned Hawks have much thinner legs and smaller feet than Cooper's Hawks. Immature Sharp-shinned Hawks have broad, blurry streaks that go well down onto the belly, whereas Cooper’s Hawks have neat brown streaks concentrated on the chest.
© Sue Barth / Macaulay LibraryNew York, April 14, 2013Similar SpeciesSharp-shinned Hawk
Adult (Northern)
Tail shape although not always easy to discern helps separate Sharp-shinned from Cooper's. Sharp-shinned Hawks have a square-tipped tail, whereas Cooper's Hawks have a rounded tail.
© Alix d'Entremont / Macaulay LibraryNova Scotia, January 13, 2017Similar SpeciesSharp-shinned Hawk
Immature (Northern)
Sharp-shinned Hawks have a smaller head than Cooper's Hawks that barely sticks out past its wing, whereas the head of a Cooper's Hawks sticks out beyond its wings. Also note the square-tipped tail on Sharpies and rounded tail on Cooper's.
© Alix d'Entremont / Macaulay LibraryNova Scotia, September 24, 2014Similar SpeciesAmerican Goshawk
Adult
American Goshawks are much larger than Cooper's Hawks. Adult goshawks are all gray with a strong white eyebrow, longer wings, and a shorter tail than Cooper's Hawks.
© Lev Frid / Macaulay LibraryQuebec, October 30, 2016Similar SpeciesAmerican Goshawk
Juvenile
Juvenile goshawks have a pale eyebrow that helps separate them from juvenile Cooper's Hawks. They also have thick streaks on their buffy underparts and an irregularly barred tail, whereas juvenile Cooper's Hawks have whiter underparts and an evenly banded tail.
© Sharyn Isom / Macaulay LibraryUtah, October 08, 2016Similar SpeciesBroad-winged Hawk
Adult light morph
Broad-winged Hawks don't have the Cooper's Hawk's capped look.
© Dan Vickers / Macaulay LibraryGeorgia, May 23, 2016Similar SpeciesBroad-winged Hawk
Adult light morph
Buteos such as the Broad-winged Hawk have longer, rounder wings and shorter tails than Cooper's Hawks.
© David Brown / Macaulay LibraryPennsylvania, September 20, 2016Similar SpeciesPeregrine Falcon
Adult
Peregrine Falcons have pointier wings than Cooper's Hawks. Adults have dark gray barring on their underparts unlike adult Cooper's Hawks, which have rusty barring and juveniles, which have brown streaks.
© Ryan Schain / Macaulay LibraryMassachusetts, November 12, 2011Similar SpeciesPeregrine Falcon
Immature
Peregrine Falcons have pointer wings than Cooper's Hawks. Immature birds have finer barring on their tails than either adult or immature Cooper's Hawks.
© Garrett Lau / Macaulay LibraryCalifornia, April 12, 2017Rotate Your Device to Better Compare
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Species in This Family
Hawks, Eagles, and Kites(Order: Accipitriformes, Family: Accipitridae)
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