You’re looking out your window watching activity at your feeders and in an instant the birds frantically scatter. Landing in the tree supporting your feeders is a medium-sized, intense-looking hawk. Most likely that bird was either a Cooper’s hawk or a sharp-shinned hawk. Cooper’s hawks and sharp-shinned hawks belong to the raptor group known as accipiters. For convenience I may refer to them as “Coops” and “sharpies.”

They have rather short, broad wings and a sleek tail. These adaptations help them dart quickly and easily through the forest or shrubs as they try to catch their prey. Coops and sharpies often find a tree limb to alight from which they scan, with keen eyesight, for generally smaller birds on which to feed. They’ll often use an evergreen or vegetation to fly behind to get close to an unwary bird. Bird experts estimate that only one in 10 attempts are successful. Often these smaller birds are alerted by a shriek from one of the others which scatters the hawk’s prey into thick cover. I once watched a Coop scatter some blue jays from near my feeder and then chase one jay into a mountain ash. For about two minutes it flew from one side of the tree to the other as the jay just stayed out of reach. Finally the hawk gave up the pursuit and flew into the neighboring yard. These two accipiters are most successful surprising their prey than trying to outmaneuver a small bird among the branches.

Sharp-shinned hawks are the smaller of the two, in fact, a male sharpie may only reach 11 inches, a bit larger than a robin. I’m drawing attention to sizes because in accipiters, sexual dimorphism is quite evident. A female sharpie is almost the same size as a male Cooper’s hawk. If you sat all four on a limb, side by side, the male sharpie is the smallest, then a female sharpie, a male Coop, and the largest, a female Coop.

Sharpie numbers are dropping. In checking migration records 1979, 1995 and this year, the yearly totals dropped from 46,000, to 26,000 and only 10,000 were recorded this year. Cooper’s hawk numbers have increased and they may be preying on some of the sharpies or claiming their territories. But I believe the biggest difference is that just like the white-tailed deer has adapted so well to suburban living, the Coops have learned to live in much closer proximity to man. They appear to be more adaptable and thus more successful (laws of nature). Also, Cooper’s hawks having a larger size, giving them a broader range of prey on which to feed. Pigeons, blue jays, starlings and mourning doves are easier for the larger Coop to catch. Sharpies, living more in the “deeper woods,” feed on smaller bird species.

Both the sharpie and Coop adults have grayish backs and brown barring across their breasts and bellies. The immatures of both are brown and tear drop chest markings. In flight, the tail of a sharpie is generally more square at the terminal end and it has a bit quicker wingbeat than its cousins. To conclude, if one visits your feeder area, it is probably the more “urban” loving Cooper’s hawk.

Test Your Outdoor Knowledge: You’re outside after a fresh snowfall and you want to follow the nighttime activities of this rabbit. Is it hopping to the left or to the right?

Last Week’s Trivia Answer: Although I have never seen one, Pennsylvania does have records of three skink species and one fence lizard species.

Contact Barry Reed at breed71@gmail.com.