A female sharpie may be about the same size as a male cooper's. For a
sharpie, look for thinner legs, barred flanks (vs. narrow streaking), a
square tail, a solidly colored nape (vs. a light grey nape), and a light and
teetering mode of flight. There's also a feature regarding length of the
head relative to the wrists while in flight; sharpie appears to have a
shorter head. Sharpie has a slight forehead to it, a cooper's has a more
rounded profile. I also live in Ballard, and see both hawks. Haven't seen
either lately, but saw 2 cooper's by Green Lake last week. Both species are
cool, and a challenge. Good luck and good birding!

Kevin Li



> ----------
> From: Pat Moore[SMTP:moorepat at sprynet.com]
> Reply To: moorepat at sprynet.com
> Sent: Monday, March 29, 1999 2:05 PM
> To: tweeters at u.washington.edu
> Subject: Help to identify hawk??
>
> I have twice in the last week seen a hawk in my backyard in Ballard. This
> is a first for me! As a novice birder and not that familiar with hawks,
> can anybody help me with an i.d. on this one? It is about the size of a
> sharp-shinned hawk, and has a strongly barred tail, bright yellow feet.
> Mostly greyish-to-brownish. No reddish coloring that I could see. Somewhat
> small head. First day it was in the neighbor's large tulip tree, about 45
> feet up. Today, it was perched on a wood fence near our pond. Did not get
> a look at its underside when it flew off, unfortunately. Any Ballardites
> seen something of this description?
>
> Pat Moore
> Ballard, WA
> moorepat at sprynet.com
>
>
> |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
> IMPORTANT: If you "reply" to this
> message, please check to be sure the
> address reads moorepat at sprynet.com
> or I may not get your message!
>
> If you see pop...or mindspring...or
> m4 in the email address, delete them.
>
> This is a "transition" problem between Spry
> and the new parent company Mindspring.
> |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
>