[Birdtalk] Cooper's or Sharpie?

[Kristin Purdy]

Mark,

If I change my guess to Cooper's, can I come over for waffles?

Kris
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mark Stackhouse" <westwings at sisna.com>
To: "birdtalk Birds" <birdtalk at utahbirds.org>
Sent: Sunday, December 24, 2006 12:13 PM
Subject: Re: [Birdtalk] Cooper's or Sharpie?


> O.K., I've had these photos up on my computer all night, and since my 
> son is bugging me for breakfast, I'd better write my comment and get 
> going on our waffles.
> 
> These images are a bit confusing, and unfortunately, we can't see 
> everything that might be helpful with this identification (such as the 
> tail, as Larry suggests). The "fluffed" posture of the bird (must be 
> cold in Cache Valley!), also confuses the issue and exposes the white 
> feather bases as Kris points out, especially in the first photo. It 
> also makes the head look relatively smaller, again especially in the 
> first photo. I find it hard to judge the size of the eye, I think due 
> to lighting, but Larry is correct about the position of the eye. The 
> second photo, I think, shows the bird most "accurately."
> 
> My first impression with this bird was that it was a Cooper's, and I 
> still think that's what it is. For a while I thought the head looked a 
> bit small, but again I think this is due to posture. The head shape, 
> especially in the second photo, eye position, (I think) eye size 
> (smaller in Cooper's) and the rather dark cap all say Cooper's to me. 
> The bird also looks long-tailed in the second photo, another good 
> feature for Cooper's. Larry is also correct about the legs - the tarsus 
> looks too thick to be a Sharpie.
> 
> If Jim is correct about the size (and those who know me know how much I 
> trust that), then the bird is clearly in the size range for a Cooper's, 
> probably a large male or small female, and outside the range for 
> Sharp-shinned.
> 
> Now, off to those waffles . . .
> 
> Happy holidays and best wishes for a New Year filled with great birds!
> 
> Mark
> 
> Mark Stackhouse
> mark at westwings.com
> 801-487-9453 (Salt Lake City, Utah, USA)
> 011-52-323-285-1243 (San Blas, Nayarit, Mexico)
> 
> On Dec 24, 2006, at 10:32 AM, Milt Moody wrote:
> 
>> The bird looks like a sharpie to me mostly because of the head shape
>> and propotions. (...and, of course, because Kris Purdy thinks so).
>>
>> I'm very interested in the spots on the "back":  I know it's supposed
>> to be present in both speicies but it seem to me from my experience
>> that it's more likely to be there on sharpies -- (actually I don't
>> remember seeing it in Cooper's).  I'm not sure if this is a local thing
>> or a figment of my imagination or a lack of enough experience to make a
>> good generalization (probably the latter).
>>
>> They probably don't show it in the books because it's not a good field
>> mark for one or the other, but I'm wondering if there's any information
>> on whether it's seen more in one species or the other or if there are
>> any local trends. (I've wondered, for years, what's going on with this
>> spotted thing with sharpies and Cooper's).  Does anyone know anything
>> about that?
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Milt
>>
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