A garden with bunches of song birds cheerily partaking of the goodies put out at the feeders. Quite a busy scene. And then, “POOF!” in the blink of an eye everyone vanishes. Not a one to be seen. Totally quiet. Not a soul.

What just happened? Look into the trees. There, sitting perfectly still. It’s a Cooper’s Hawk (Accipiter cooperii).

It’ll stay for a seemingly endless time hoping for a little bird to act a bit brashly. That little bird at risk of becoming the hawk’s lunch. The circle of life.

Cooper’s Hawks are remarkably similar to the Sharp-shinned Hawk and have many points of subtle difference. The one difference I try to keep in mind is size. The Cooper’s Hawk is about the size of a Crow while the Sharp-shinned Hawk is more the size of a Robin. Hard to tell though, if there are no other birds around to compare with. But keep size in mind if you’re lucky enough to see one of these beautiful birds.