Hawks at bird feeders: Cooper's vs Sharp-shinned Hawk

A hawk that scatters every bird at the feeder is most likely a Cooper's or a Sharp-shinned Hawk. Project FeederWatch says both commonly take feeder birds, and Cornell's All About Birds notes that they come for an easy meal, not seed. FeederWatch warns that no single field mark separates them, so this page compares the marks side by side, then summarizes what Cornell, FeederWatch and Audubon suggest doing when a hawk hunts at your feeders.

Field-mark comparison table

Adults of both species have dark gray backs, rusty barring on the breast and red eyes; juveniles have yellow eyes and brown backs (FeederWatch).

How much bigger is a Cooper's Hawk?

It depends on sex, and the sources' figures differ. Females of both species are larger than males: Cornell says female Sharp-shins are about a third larger than males and approach the size of a male Cooper's Hawk, and FeederWatch adds that a male Cooper's can be as small as a female Sharp-shin. Cornell's 2023 article on a FeederWatch predation study says Cooper's Hawks weigh about twice as much and are about 50 percent longer on average.

Step by step: which hawk is it?

1. Start with size, but don't stop there. Size is most reliable when a bird is very large or very small; in between, the two overlap (FeederWatch).
2. Look at the head. A big head with the eye set toward the front points to Cooper's; a small head with the eye near the middle points to Sharp-shinned (FeederWatch).
3. Check the body outline. Cooper's chest is about as wide as its hips; Sharp-shinned is widest at the shoulders and narrows toward the hips (FeederWatch).
4. Compare the legs. Pencil-thin legs suggest Sharp-shinned; thicker legs suggest Cooper's (FeederWatch, Audubon).
5. Use the tail tip carefully. It is reliable only when all feathers are visible and held straight: a closed Cooper's tail can look square from behind, a spread Sharp-shin tail can look rounded, and molting feathers confuse both (FeederWatch).
6. Read the plumage by age. On an adult seen from behind, a dark cap over a paler nape suggests Cooper's. On a juvenile seen from the front, thick rufous streaks down the belly suggest Sharp-shinned; thin streaks fading on a white lower belly suggest Cooper's (FeederWatch).
7. Watch it fly. Countable, regular wingbeats and a projecting head mean Cooper's; quick, erratic wingbeats and a tucked-in head mean Sharp-shinned (FeederWatch).

Why hawks show up at feeders

Cooper's Hawks were once thought to avoid towns but are now common in cities and suburbs, where Rock Pigeons and Mourning Doves are plentiful (Cornell). Sharp-shinned Hawks breed in deep forest and are most often seen in fall migration or at winter feeders (Cornell).

FeederWatch counts show the change. National Wildlife reported Cooper's Hawks at 6.4% of participants' feeders in 1989 and 21.9% in 2014; Cornell's 2019 summary gives about 6% in 1989 and about 25% by 2016. In the Chicago area, Cooper's or Sharp-shinned Hawks visited about 27% of 554 FeederWatch sites in 1996 and 63% in 2016 (McCabe et al. 2018).

A 2022 FeederWatch study (Miller et al.) found Dark-eyed Juncos were the top prey of both hawks. Sharp-shinned Hawks focused on small species; Cooper's Hawks also took doves, pigeons, starlings and blackbirds. Chickadees and nuthatches, which grab a seed and leave, were taken much less often.

Is that a problem? FeederWatch project leader Emma Greig told National Wildlife there is no evidence hawks have caused declines in any prey species taken at feeders, and Cornell says feeders don't appear to greatly raise a songbird's risk.

What to do at your feeder

• Pause the feeding. If a hawk hunts regularly, take the feeders down or leave them empty; the small birds disperse and the hawk moves on (Cornell, Audubon). How long varies by source; see the table below.
• Put them back. Songbirds and doves will likely return when feeders go back up (Cornell).
• Add escape cover. Trees within 15 to 20 feet of a feeder let healthy birds evade predators (Audubon, Kress). Plant native trees and shrubs, especially evergreens, near feeders, or build 8-foot-wide, 4-foot-high brush piles no more than 20 feet away (National Wildlife). Where cats roam, see the cover cautions in our feeder placement guide.
• Protect windows. Birds fleeing a hawk can hit windows, and pursuing hawks sometimes do too (Audubon, Kress). Move feeders within 3 feet of windows and add decals or screens outside the glass (National Wildlife); FeederWatch recommends marking patterns spaced no more than 2 inches apart.
• Optional fencing. Some people put up 4-foot-high rabbit fencing to keep hawks from swooping down on ground feeders (National Wildlife).
• Never harm the hawk. Both species are federally protected (see below).

Hawks are federally protected

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says the Migratory Bird Treaty Act prohibits the take of protected species, including killing, capturing, selling, trading and transport, without prior authorization from the Service. Cooper's Hawk and Sharp-shinned Hawk are both on the federal list of protected migratory birds at 50 CFR 10.13. Hawks were left out when most birds were protected in 1918 and added in 1972, after public outrage over mass shooting (National Wildlife). Connecticut's wildlife agency says the act covers all hawks, owls, falcons and eagles. This is a summary, not legal advice; for a specific case, contact the USFWS or your state wildlife agency.

For your Bird-a-Day streak

They are two species, so two separate days; Cornell calls the Sharp-shinned the most common raptor at hawk-watch sites in migration. A bird you can only call "Sharp-shinned/Cooper's" is fine for FeederWatch but names no single species. Log your hawk in the streak tracker, practice the four keys in bird identification basics, and compare another feeder pair in Downy vs Hairy Woodpecker.

Sources

• Tricky Bird ID: Sharp-shinned Hawk and Cooper's Hawk — Project FeederWatch
• Cooper's Hawk Overview — All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology
• Cooper's Hawk Identification — All About Birds
• Sharp-shinned Hawk Overview — All About Birds
• Sharp-shinned Hawk Identification — All About Birds
• A hawk has started hunting the feeder birds in my yard. What can I do? — All About Birds
• Seeing More Hawks in Your Yard? It's Not Your Imagination — All About Birds / Living Bird (Marc Devokaitis, 2019)
• How Do Cooper's and Sharp-shinned Hawks Coexist in Backyards? FeederWatch Investigates — All About Birds (Marc Devokaitis, 2023)
• Cooper's Hawk — Audubon Guide to North American Birds
• Sharp-shinned Hawk — Audubon Guide to North American Birds
• How to Deal with Backyard Mishaps — Audubon (Steve Kress)
• When Birds Become Bird Food — National Wildlife, National Wildlife Federation (Margaret A. Barker, 2016)
• Safe Feeding Environment — Project FeederWatch
• Red-shouldered Hawk participant photo and staff reply — Project FeederWatch
• Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 — U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
• 50 CFR 10.13: List of Migratory Birds — eCFR
• Conflicts with Birds of Prey and Backyard Livestock — Connecticut DEEP