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Posted by Spongebob Squarepants on 10:15:44 08/13/08
In Reply to: Re: Raptors @ Baptist (Kendall) posted by Chris & Lili
Your Sharpie is kind of early! There was one seen in Key Biscayne earlier this month but it was an odd sighting at that time of year. Sharpie's are very similar in plumage to Cooper's Hawk. Cooper's Hawk has proportionately longer tail, rounded at the tip. Cooper's Hawk is more robust and has a proportionately larger head. Adult Cooper's Hawk has a dark cap that contrasts with its back. Juvenile Cooper's Hawk has less streaking underneath and more white on the tip of the tail. In flight, the larger head of the Cooper's Hawk is apparent, sticking out farther in front of the wings. Your raptor may have been a Cooper's Hawk instead but you never know with all the storms coming from the north the bird may well have been a Sharp-shinned Hawk! I was just there on Monday looking for Bulbul with no luck decided to check the hospital for anything and found both a Copper's and an Osprey and lots of exotics as well. Anyways let the October raptor migration begin, it is only a matter of time before we have a Mississippi Kite fly over us on it's way south.
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