Mystery solved: It's a goshawk!

In response to yesterday’s post featuring our mystery juvenile hawk, the question came down to whether the bird was an immature goshawk or an immature Cooper’s hawk. Both look extremely similar.

A goshawk, because of its rarity, seemed unlikely. Yet the markings didn’t quite fit with a juvy Cooper’s hawk. So … I reached out to some experts.

I sent emails to a few regional universities and requested the assistance of some ornithology experts. I heard back from a Dr. Daniela Monk, Assistant Clinical Professor, School of Biological Sciences, at Washington State University in Pullman.

She wrote: “Yes, please send the pictures and I will try to help ID your bird. Juvenile Goshawks and juvenile Cooper’s Hawks are very similar and often difficult to distinguish. That said, Goshawk juveniles usually have a lighter line above the eye, they also have barring on the tail that is more wavy. Goshawks are not often seen, but they do occur in your area. In addition, juvenile birds do venture into areas where adults might not go.“

I replied: “It was the white line above the eye that made me lean toward a juvy goshawk.” – and I sent her the photos I posted on the blog.

She replied: “Beautiful photos, thank you for sharing them. I think you are correct in thinking your bird is a juvenile Goshawk. I have attached two slides that describe the difference in tail patterning of juvenile Cooper’s versus Goshawk (the pictures on the slides are from an e-course on raptors by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology). Your bird clearly shows the jagged dark markings on the tail that are characteristic of juvenile Goshawks. Wishing you many more happy bird encounters.“

Here are the slides she sent:

Now here’s the photo of my bird’s tail.

Not only are the dark tail bands jagged, but (if you look closely or enlarge the photo) they’re outlined in white.

On juvy Cooper’s hawks, the tail bars are straight and do not have the thin white outline.

Below is the juvy goshawk tail:

Here’s a close-up of my bird’s tail:
 

Mystery solved: It’s a goshawk! What a thrill to have such a rare bird chasing quail off our back deck … although I doubt the quail care what kind of hawk is trying to eat them.