On Sun, 22 Sep 1996, Cliff Drake wrote:

>
> Hi Tweets;
> I spent quite a bit of time the other day watching a hawk soar and
> circle over the meadows of Discovery park. I hesitate to be too sure of
> myself, but I'm pretty sure it was a Coopers. It was pretty darned high
> up, but it had a rusty barred breast, and kept it's tail closed most of
> the time. Only when it maneuvered with the wind did it open it's tail.

when it opened the tail, did you notice if it was rounded
or square across the bottom? A rounded tail is a good field
mark for Cooper's..the rusty breast is good news..means
it's an adult and obviously beat the incredible odds against
it surviving its first winter.

I
> had a Sharpie spend most of a winter around my bird feeders a few years
> ago, and this bird looked much bigger, but I guess a Coopers can be
> almost as big as a Red Tail, can't it?
>
I'd guess a small tiercel redtail might approximate in
size to large female Coop..


By the way, I was fortunate/unfortunate enough to see the Sharpie pick
> a House Finch and a Starling off my feeder. (Puts a new meaning to the
> term bird feeder, doesn't it?) It had a real hard time gaining any
> altitude with a screaming Starling clutched in one talon.

some guys have all the luck... and got rid of a flying rat
while you were at it..


Tom