Red-tailed Hawk vs Cooper's Hawk
The check that settles it
Much slimmer, with short rounded wings and a long banded tail. Hunts through cover rather than soaring.
Red-tailed Hawk
Buteo jamaicensis
- Size
- 45–65 cm
- Bill
- hooked
- Where
- open field, woodland, city
- Voice
- A harsh descending scream. This is the sound used for eagles in almost every film ever made.
Cooper's Hawk
Accipiter cooperii
- Size
- 37–48 cm
- Bill
- hooked
- Where
- yard, woodland, city
- Voice
- A rapid 'cak-cak-cak' near the nest. Usually silent away from it.
Confirming a red-tailed hawk
- A dark belly band across an otherwise pale chest.
- Broad rounded wings and a short wide tail — a soaring buteo shape.
- Brick-red tail on adults, seen from above or backlit. Young birds have a brown banded tail.
- Perches on poles and posts along open roads.
Confirming a cooper's hawk
- Long tail with broad dark bands and a rounded white-tipped end.
- Short rounded wings — built for chasing through trees, not soaring.
- Flap-flap-glide flight, rather than continuous soaring.
- Adults: blue-grey back, fine rusty barring below, dark cap contrasting with a paler nape.