DARE TO BIRD

I get several questions about the difference between accipiters. The most common ones are between Sharp-shinned Hawks and Cooper's Hawks and between Cooper's Hawks vs Northern Goshawks (to a lesser degree). Next, I get many questions dealing with a certain race of buteos the Western Red-tailed Hawk and Harlan's. So I thought I would do a post on these to help answer those questions. I will deal with Cooper's and Sharpies and not Goshawks because they are much more common here and look much more alike. My friend John Reynolds inspired me to write this up. COOPER'S AND SHARP-SHINNED HAWKS EYE COLOUR - YELLOW OR ORANGE? RED? Normally a juvenile Cooper's hawk has a bright yellow eye and a Juvie Sharpie has a orange eye but some cooper's can have a dull yellow eye that looks a bit orangish. Cooper's Hawks usually only transition to the orange eye colour when they are sub adults, so in good light, it's a very very reliable feature. However you ...

As I run the BC Rare Bird Alert , I am always inundated with identification requests. I enjoy helping people as it keeps my ID skills sharp and it's rewarding to help ease people's confusion. Yet it is ideal if people can also help themselves by trying to identify the bird first right from the first moment they see it in the field. If I simply ID the bird for them over and over am I really helping or hindering them? I am always eager to help people but just providing the answer (even with explaining the reasons why I came to that conclusion) is not truly beneficial for those who really want to learn Bird ID, unless of course one is totally stumped after trying to resolve the matter themselves. When I am identifying bird photos sent to me, I must ID the bird from one static photo. This can be tougher but in other ways easier, as I'll explain. When I go to identify a photo that people send me I usually have much more time than the person in the field who took the photo. ...