Is this a Cooper's Hawk?

[6chicksinatub]

I'm in Tucson, AZ and we have a huge year-round Cooper's Hawk population. Is this an immature one?
It's not the best picture, but is there enough detail to tell what kind of hawk this is?

 

[M.sue]

Can't say for sure but it looks like what we have up here and we do have Coopers. It does look like a young one for the couple I've seen around here look bigger.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Could be. Could also be Sharp Shinned, Swainsons, Rough Legged.

 

[desertdarlene]

To me, it looks like an immature red-tailed or ferruginous hawk. It doesn't look like a Cooper's at all. Cooper's have long, striped tails. The same goes for sharp-shinned. If it's bigger than a crow or raven, it's more likely one of the first two I mentioned.

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

Hi neighbor!

It's hard to tell for certain from the pic, but it looks like a Red Tailed hawk to me. In the pics below, the one on the left is a Cooper's hawk. The one on the right is a Red Tailed hawk, it is significantly larger. The Red Tailed hawk is eating the Cooper's hawk pictured on the right, just to give you some scale. It's entirely possible that your hawk is the very same bird in my pic.

 

[mom'sfolly]

I vote for red-tailed too.

 

[Choctaw Valley Farm]

Looks like it to me also.

 

[6chicksinatub]

Quote:
You mean the Red-tailed is actually devouring the Cooper's?!

Q: What do Red-tailed hawks eat?
A: Anything they want.

 

[moetrout]

That is a red-tailed hawk. A coopers hawk will have a longer tail that is white underneath with brown horizontal bands.

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

Quote:
Yes. That pic was taken last spring. We had pairs of Red Tailed, Cooper's and Kestrels all nesting on the block. The Cooper's and the Kestrels were constantly mobbing the Red Tail. Early one morning the we saw them collide with the Red Tail locking on to the Cooper's. The Cooper's can maneuver so much better, I never imagined that it's luck would run out like that. We were a bit bummed. The Cooper's spent a lot of time in the yard and really helped limit the number of doves and pigeons in the yard. It never bothered the chickens; they really didn't care about it and even stopped responding to it. Oddly enough, they do respond to the new Cooper's that drops in every couple of days. I suspect it is younger and has taken a few swipes at them.


Quote:
Pretty true! Immediately after dining on the Cooper's, the Red Tailed hawk began swooping into the yard after my chickens. Even though I was out there waving my arms at it, the hawk wasn't phased in the slightest. It had zero fear of me. It repeatedly swooped right around me after my girls until I could get them all into the run.