Sharp-Shinned Hawk
Accipiter striatus
The Sharp-Shinned Hawk can be found throughout most of North America. It looks similar to the Cooper's Hawk, although it is smaller. For both hawks, the female is larger than the male--and since the sexes look alike, it can be difficult to distinguish by size the male Cooper's and the female Sharp-Shinned. Two distinguishing features of the Sharp-Shinned can be seen in these photographs. One is the round and relatively small head. The other is that it has a black cowl on its head--the black on the cap extends down on the back of the neck (see photo on the right). The Sharp-Shinned also has a squarish tail (not well seen here because it is somewhat fanned rather than neatly stacked), whereas the tail of the Cooper's Hawk is more rounded. These photographs were taken in Berkeley, CA on March 6, 2021 (Click on images to see enlarged versions.)