Concerning Nancy's Accipiter I.D. question for this photo:

http://www.nancywagnerphotography.com/id.html

Though I would lean towards calling the Accipiter in the photo a Sharpie
because of the apparent notch in the middle of the end of the tail and
because the bird looks a bit slimmer than I think of a Coopers being, I have
little confidence without getting something that indicates size or seeing
the bird in flight from above or below. If the end of the tail is somewhat
rounded in flight and is the size of a crow or close to that size I would
call it a Coopers. If the tail squared to notched at the end and apparently
smaller than a crow, I would call it a Sharpie. I don't know how reliable
the tail shape alone is while perched. I presume that the tail feathers
could be spread while perching to give it the appearance of being notched
without showing a notch from above or below in flight. Though I presume
that there are other subtle distinctions, these are the only ones I
currently use to distinguish these species.

-Stewart

Stewart Wechsler
Ecological Consulting
West Seattle
206 932-7225
ecostewart at quidnunc.net

-Advice on the most site-appropriate native plants
and how to enhance habitat for the maximum diversity
of plants and animals
-Educational programs, nature walks and field trips
-Botanical Surveys


-----Original Message--
Sent: Monday, March 03, 2008 4:04 PM
To: tweeters at u.washington.edu
Subject: [Tweeters] Debate continues on sharpie vs cooper with 1 more
photo


Here's one more photo of a new angle of the possible sharpie or cooper's
(second link). What I wouldn't have given to have it turn around...instead,
the one behavior I did see was that it flew down to the ground, and I
couldn't see it anymore, even after going over to look.

http://www.nancywagnerphotography.com/id.html

http://www.nancywagnerphotography.com/id2.html

Hope this helps id it and thanks again!

Nancy Wagner
Bothell, WA
Nancy at nancywagnerphotography.com





Internal Virus Database is out-of-date.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.
Version: 7.5.516 / Virus Database: 269.21.1/1297 - Release Date: 2/25/2008
9:22 AM