Sharp-shinned hawk at Briones

Here we have a sharp-shinned hawk (or “sharpie” as we raptorphiles call them). I was pretty sure to begin with it was a sharpie and not a Cooper’s hawk (which look extremely similar but are larger), and I originally composed this post stating that I “hoped” I was right about that identification, then I scheduled the post and by coincidence left to attend a raptor identification lecture. At the lecture, I learned a little trick about IDing sharpies versus Coops: sharpies have a “sharp” angle in the bottom of their tail, which this bird has. For once I was right about a bird ID! I had especially been hoping this was a sharpie because I’ve photographed Coopers hawks before (mostly in my yard in Virginia, in fact, eating my songbirds), but I’d never photographed a sharpie. In fact, I’ve only seen a couple in real life. We got Coops in regularly at the Raptor Conservancy in Virgina, but I only saw a couple of sharpies during my time there. By yet another coincidence, though, the very next day after I took these pictures, I went into one of the wildlife hospitals I volunteer at out here in California and we had admitted a sharpie patient! I got to shove some meds down his throat; he hated it, I loved it. 🙂