Falconry: Cooper's hawk comparison

I am a raptor handler/caretaker, at a sanctuary, in suburban NYC, but wish I could do Falconry. I would certainly follow you on Facebook & am learning a lot from this channel, so thank you for your informative videos. 😊 As a animal behaviorist, I am most interested in "training".

Great video. We have coopers here in Nj. We live in a suburban area with lots of deciduous and pine trees.I have 4 song bird feeders in back as..yard. Well we see coopers every day and see the feathers after a successful hunt or squirrel fur,tails. Such beautiful birds! Keep the videos and info coming. Thank you sir.

Hi, I have no experience with Cooper hawks, but with Central European goshawks. And I noticed that individuals coming from pine forests are browner in young feathers with wider lines and thicker ripples in adulthood. Individuals from spruce forest or poplar forest are lighter.

Always love your videos! Very thought provoking. We have a juvenile coopers that is often on our fence I’ll have to take a closer look at the next time I see it

I have Coops in my yard, on the ranch, and a passage Coops in my kitchen all in northern Colorado. Glad to share photos. Trap weight on my presumed female passage was 464 with a 3-4 keel score. Her chest markings are not as thick as shown in your video, and the local adults are not as dark. She's a very late passage trap, and temperament is very aversive to human interaction so far. Hard to call her mean-- she didn't ask for this, and would leave if she could!

Ben- Thank you for all of your informative falconry videos! They helped me to pass the Maine falconry exam last month!! I look forward to reviewing all of them in preparation for building my mews in the Spring and trapping my first Red-Tailed Hawk this coming Fall. 😃

New subscriber here. I stumbled on to your videos and love them! I feel your passion for birds. They are detailed and full of info. I love birds and continue to learn as much as I can.

Back in the 90s, Steve Chindgren sent me a pair of rehab Cooper's that came from Tracy Aviary out your way for a breeding project of mine here in NC. I noticed right off that they were different than our birds out here. Exactly as you mentioned, the young that this pair produced while I had them had much wider, denser, almost elingated blocky streaking on the chest and belly. The adults were bluer than the blue of our eastern birds. Even the Utah female was slightly bluish. Our females are more brownish as adults than those birds were. And your males are lighter blue. And as you say, more white in between the other colors. Our young birds have very fine elongated " teardrop" streaks on chest, belly, and leg. I flew a local male year before last that came from coastal NC, and he was the same typical eastern bird you describe. I absolutely love male Cooper's. I just retired last month, and if I get a chance to get a "family" males this season, I may get another. My work schedule for many years has made it impractical for me to do a Coop justice. My last bird was medicare at best. I released him at 1 year when there were plenty of young prey out there. I had always flown imprints back in the day. There was a long cooperless stretch between them and my last one. Never a family bird, so I want to give it a try. Great videos Ben.

Additional discussion and posting of pictures would be great... But not on facebook.

I'm glad i found your channel, been binge watching your videos all morning. Great info and I love the detail you go into! I'd love for you to maybe do an Introduction on Bonelli's eagles, I've heard very impressive stories about them, essentially having that acceleration and agility off the glove like Goshawks (albeit not to their extent of course) but this falconer that I follow clocked speeds of 45-65mph in horizontal pursuit I believe, although I could be wrong and those could be off a stoop. If true though, for a bird the size of an Eurasian Eagle Owl that's insanely impressive. I've also heard that their feet, legs and talons are very large for their size. Would love to see a video on that impressive bird. Also maybe a comparison on Goshawks and Red tails. I've heard that Goshawks hit much harder but then I hear that Red tails are much more powerful and have stronger legs/feet. I find it interesting to note though that in the wild Goshawks are known for taking large and impressive prey, more often than Red tails at least. I'm finding very conflicting views on the power of both birds, so your input or any other falconer's input (or just anyone who's handled both birds and can reply) would be much appreciated! Thanks again.

You could try going on eBird and filtering the photos people have submitted by location. Thanks for your beautiful and informative videos!

I live in the southeast of PA. At my work, I've got tons of Coppers hawks. I see a local pair with baby hunting our fence for birds. If you do the Facebook page, I'll upload pictures from my area.

Me too, i learn very much of your Chanel. Absolutly perfect, i learn very much from you in your Videos, but Facebook is not necessary for interestet people around the World. Ithink there are to much stupid people who doesn't wont to protect this wonderful birds and it is very dangerous to give such people to much Information. Greatings from Germany

Thank you - this old Haggard. Enjoy s your educational info , . Safe Flights and Falconers Greetings . I had a coopers from northern Ontario and from Vancouver Island both were easy training and yes the eastern Hawk was bigger and i believe lighter in color . Everything seems to be darker in west ? Black Merlin - dark Goshawks and even the red tails new comers to the island i believe are turning Darker over tha last 20 years i have watched them .

Hello . I'm in Pittsburgh. I'm here because I had what was either a Coopers or Goshawk in my yard - which would have been quite a rarity here. It was a large bird which is why I wonder. I'd say the body not including head tail and legs was the size of a football. White spots on back were pronounced and maybe the size of nickles, so a young bird. General coloration was brown (like a football) and heavily banded, with heavy brown ticking on a white chest . No orange on this one.

I think a fb group would be awesome. Especially with coops. I flew (and still have) my first coops as a 2nd year apprentice, last year. This year, I trapped a late passage big male (going by features: smaller feet, slender frame, rounder head). The personality differences between a family bird and a passage is incredible.

I had a thought about your colleague's observation that Cooper's hawks in the eastern US are "nicer". I live in NYC, and I've had some odd experiences with the birds here, including raptors, and I'm not the only one (it's why I started watching your videos!). All of the animals living here are relatively tolerant of humans, and so less fearful. Cooper's hawks are the only accipiter commonly seen in towns and cities in the densely populated east coast (I have two hanging around my block now). It is possible that success in relatively urban areas is selecting for Cooper's hawks that are less afraid of humans, and so more amenable to working with a falconer.

Amazing 💖❤😍💕 Accipiters are so fascinating 💝💘💗 Would You mind doing a comparison of different types of Sparrowhawks?

Photos would be great for this discussion.

Also I have recently been pulling my birds from >6000ft in the Eastern sierras mostly because they nest 6 weeks later. But I have noticed they seem to be quite a bit larger than so cal lowland birds.