Coopers Hawk Pictures
Accipiter cooperi

We hope you enjoy these Coopers Hawk pictures (or proper Cooper's Hawk) that we have taken while researching raptor migration. Please note the Terms of Use.

Click on thumbnails for larger photos.

Thumbnail at top left above is an adult male, that is at least two years old (After Second Year - ASY). The picture shows the typical eye color of an adult Cooper's Hawk and the prominant superorbital ridge that protects the eyes as they crash through trees and shrubs while chasing prey. Some people think the superorbital ridge also makes them look "mean".

Top right thumbnail. Another adult Cooper's Hawk showing typical characteristics; rufous and white barring on the breast, the dark red eye of an adult, the dark cap (darker than the nape), and wide whitish terminal band on the tail and "flat top" head.

The thumbnail at the bottom left is an adult male that is just over one year old. If you notice, one of the feathers at the tip of the left wing (called primaries) is a new growing feather. (8th primary -3rd from the end). Also notice, that primary feathers 1-8 have been replaced (darker and new), while primaries 9 and 10 (last two) are older, faded brown juvenile feathers that have not yet been replaced.

The middle bottom thumbnail is a closer view of the molting primary.

The right bottom thumbnail is a closer view of the secondaries, showing some older, faded brown juvenile feathers that have not yet been replaced and the new basic feathers that have replaced feathers that have already molted.

Get this Coopers Hawk picture on a shirt or coffee cup!

A Photographic Guide to North American Raptors, Wheeler & Clark 1995). We highly recommend this book for anyone interested in raptors.

And for the Cooper's Hawk enthusiast, we recommend The Cooper's Hawk: A Cross Timbers Chronicle. An excellent read by an author passionate about his favorite bird.