Coopers Hawk vs. Sharp Shinned Hawk

Hi,

I've had both coopers and sharp shinned prey on my chickens and pigeons. They both look almost identical at first glance, but once youve seen the differences they are pretty easy to tell apart. Sharp shinned is a little smaller in comparison, and if you can get a glance of your hawk flying away from behind, note the shape of the tail tip. Sharp shins have a square tail tip, while coopers is rounded. Also, coopers hawks have more of a black crown on the top of their head above their eyes. Its more defined and stands out. It helps to look at some pictures, if you have a bird guide, or here:

sharp shined hawk: (note the square tail shape):

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_OYjskRx08bY/RugHBAviv2I/AAAAAAAABoM/NWtJZw3f7VU/s400/sharp-shinned+hawk.jpg

Coopers hawk: (rounded tail):

http://animal.discovery.com/guides/wild-birds/gallery/coopers_hawk.jpg

The juveniles and sometimes the males can be much harder to tell apart.

They both eat about the same things. From my experience, they both generally tend to stay away from the larger chickens, its the bantams and young birds you have to worry about. But they are especially good at chasing down birds like pigeons in air, and Ive had them gore pigeons through 1 inch wire too. Ruthless killers but amazing birds nonetheless.

Ive never heard of anyone having kestrels pose a threat to their chickens. We have some nearby too and they dont seem the least bit interested in my birds.

Sorry about the long post. I hope it helps though.


Mary

I think Merry hens touched on many of the differences but for the most part coopers are generally larger and more barrel shaped  with a large head for its size while the sharp shin has a heavier upper body and smaller, thinner lower body. They are both pretty hard to identify at a quick glace and often a large female sharp shin can be the same size or larger then a male coopers.

The cooper that hangs around my house does not mess with my standard breed chickens, as a matter of fact they are not afraid of him in the least. 
This cooper goes after the wild birds around my feeder and coop and I have seen him go after a bantam once but he was unsuccessful.
My standard hens and my rooster chase the cooper hawk off if he lands on the ground.
This is my experience.

Cornell Bird lab has an excellent page on distinguishing the two.

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/pfw/AboutBirdsandFeeding/accipiterIDtable.htm

Good link, thanks.

Good info the the differences here. I want to add a note about kestrels. The family of kestrels in my back yard will alert me, and the hens, when hawks are present and will dive them and chase them off. They annoy the hawks no end and are quite relentless. The kestrels have never presented a problem with my larger breeds. They are very welcome residents.

The hawk that hangs around my hen house seems to only be after the occasional mouse or rat

You are lucky to have a family of kestrels.  They are much too small to bother chickens, but they will help to control the sparrows that steal your chicken food.

I suppose it is vaguely possible that a Kestrel might try for a day old chick if the Kestrel is really hungry.  Generally, I don't worry about them and am glad to have them show up at my place.