>
>Susan Collicot writes:
>> Then I thought Cooper's, but the guide has confused me - it
>> has a larger width measurement, but in the write-up it says the Cooper's wings
>> are shorter than the sharp-shinned. (I've just read the description 3 times,
>> and it's still reading, to me, as shorter than the sharp-shinned. I think I'm
>> not getting something here...)
>
>The Cooper's hawk has "proportionately shorter wings" than a sharpie,
>meaning realtive to body size, wingspan, etc.
>On an absolute scale they should actually be at least as large.
>Good ID marks for Cooper's vs. Sharpie are
>(1) Cooper's has a biggish head, sharpie has a small head.
>(2) When the bird is flying in a straight line (not circling with its
> tail fanned a little, etc.) a Cooper's will show a rounded tail tip,
> sharpie has a squared tail tip.
>
>

Actually, the slow wing beats described contraindicate any accipiter.
The bent wrist, narrowness of the wings and large size all suggest
Northern Harrier, natures most often misidentified raptor.


--
******************************** A round man cannot be expected to fit into a
* Mike Patterson, Astoria, OR * square hole right away. He must have time t
* mpatters at ednet1.osl.or.gov * modify his shape.
******************************** -Mark Twain