Skip to content

Fauna for iPhoneTake Fauna outside.

Identify wildlife and keep your field journal with you.

Explore Globe Identify Guides Collections Species

Opening the identification guide

Step Outside. See What You've Been Missing.

Download on the App Store↗

FaunaExplore Field guides Species Identify

SupportFAQ Privacy Terms Contact

© 2026 Fauna

Collect Every Wildlife Discovery.

Explore Globe Identify Species

← Identification guidesSide-by-side field guide

Cooper's or sharp-shinned hawk?

Head projection, tail shape, and the set of the crown — and why size is the trait most likely to fool you.

Scope: North America · Last updated 2026-07-16

A juvenile Cooper’s hawk perched on a metal railing, showing brown-streaked underparts; part of its banded tail is obscured by a post. — Photo: Cooper's hawk by Calibas · Public domain — dedicated worldwide by the creator

Cooper's hawk

VS

A sharp-shinned hawk flying overhead with its wings extended and a narrow banded tail. — Photo: Sharp-shinned Hawk (Accipiter striatus) by Steve Berardi · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Resized and converted to WebP; displayed with a crop.

Sharp-shinned hawk

Accipiter striatus

Head in flight [1][2][3]

Large and blocky, projecting well past the wings

Small and rounded, barely projecting

Tail tip [1][2][3]

Rounded, with a broad white band

Squared or notched, with a narrow white edge

Two broad-winged hawks in flight against a blue sky. — Field frame · Editorial contextA contextual view from Watching raptor migration.Image: Broad-winged Hawk (Buteo platypterus) (51154306647) by Gregory "Slobirdr" Smith · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Resized and converted to WebP; displayed with a crop.

Adult crown & nape [1][2]

Dark cap contrasting against a paler nape

Dark hood running evenly down the nape

A careful ID

Use the whole view

These marks vary with age, sex, wear, and viewing angle. Crown and nape apply to adults; tail tips can look more rounded or square when spread or worn. Use head projection, tail, legs, and multiple views, and leave a brief sighting as an unresolved small woodland hawk. [1][2][3]

Still not sure?

Scan the photo without leaving Fauna.

Identify a photo

SOURCES & STATUS

Source-checked editorial guide. Last updated 2026-07-16.

Project FeederWatch (Cornell Lab) — Tricky Bird ID: Sharp-shinned & Cooper's Hawk ↗
National Audubon Society — A Beginner's Guide to IDing Cooper's and Sharp-Shinned Hawks ↗
HawkWatch International — Cooper's Hawk Fact Sheet ↗

A common gull flying against a blue sky with its long wings fully spread. — Field frame · Editorial contextA contextual view from How birds fly.Image: Bird in flight wings spread.jpg by Bengt Nyman · CC BY 2.0 · Resized and converted to WebP; displayed with a crop.

Size [1][2][3]

About crow-sized

About Blue Jay-sized

Several long formations of migrating snow geese crossing a pink evening sky. — Field frame · Editorial contextA contextual view from How birds navigate during migration.Image: Snow Goose Migration (16211906894) by Krista Lundgren / U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service · CC BY 2.0 · Resized and converted to WebP; displayed with a crop.

Legs [1][2][3]

Sturdy

Pencil-thin — the 'sharp shins'