Goshawks Carleton Park Brampton

[cairnstone]

There are 3 immature Northern Goshawks in Carleton Park, Brampton at the moment.

[thouc]

I think these are Cooper's Hawks (belly and undertail coverts looks unstreaked as far as I can see, no thin white line bordering the black bands on the tail).

/Thomas

[cairnstone]

Wrong for once Thomas. These are goshawks unless they are on steroids and have learned to mimic goshawks. Definately goshawks. I see Cooper's Hawks every day.

[thouc]

The branches are strategically placed to make it difficult to determine the streaking, so I'll have to trust your live observations.

[cairnstone]

Here is a typical immature Carleton Park Cooper's Hawk for comparison. Note the much thinner bill, smaller body and much fewer speckles on the back. Also, less of a distinctive "eyebrow"

[cairnstone]

There is a heavily streaked one among the 3, but in flight you can plainly see they are all goshawks.

[thouc]

I tried to look for them this morning, but they weren't around.

[mr.sharp-photo]

hard to tell w/o seeing its tail or the eyebrow and stuff.

i assume they were big birds vs coopers

[CalvinBird]

I went there this morning and saw 2 of them before 11AM, one chased another away, then flew back toward me, here are 2 photos of this one, considering its size, shape, color of chest/belly, I am very sure it is a Cooper's.

I will post my previous Goshawk immature photos for comparison.

Calvin
North York

[CalvinBird]

Goshawk immature.

Calvin
North York

[anatum]

Goshawk immature.

Calvin
North York

Hey Calvin,

Are any of your pictures from Carleton Park? The image quality seems to vary a lot.
I went this afternoon for an hour but had no luck.
For those who did see them, were they north or south of the bridge?

[CalvinBird]

No, the Goshawk photos are my stock photos, taken on 2009 and 2013, in Vancouver area, BC. One was sunny day, the other was heavily foggy. Just for comparison.

This morning the Cooper's Hawks were chasing from south to north, one pass the bridge and disappeared, the other one turned back to south, into the woods.

Calvin
North York

[anatum]

No, the Goshawk photos are my stock photos, taken on 2009 and 2013, in Vancouver area, BC. One was sunny day, the other was heavily foggy. Just for comparison.

This morning the Cooper's Hawks were chasing from south to north, one pass the bridge and disappeared, the other one turned back to south, into the woods.

Calvin
North York

OK. I like the shot with the food. Looks like you got nice and low for that one.

[CalvinBird]

OK. I like the shot with the food. Looks like you got nice and low for that one.

Thanks. I dig a hole on the snow and sat in there. lol

[Reuven_M]

I'm going to have to disagree here, as I believe these photos show Cooper's Hawk. First of all, the first two photos show a bird with a very full crop, making it look much larger and bulkier.

Goshawks show heavy brown streaking on most of the underside with a buffy backround. Cooper's show fine, dark streaking ending higher on the belly, against a white background. There are certainly exceptions, but I think the photos lean much more towards a Cooper's Hawk appearance.

Cooper's hawk can certainly show the extensive white on the back (e.g here). While goshawks do have a mottled back, I can't find any photos of goshawks showing the contrasting white patches like this bird.

The eyebrow is certainly an indicator for Goshawk, but Cooper's and Sharp-shinned often show heavy eyebrows as immatures, and in any case the eyebrow, on at least the first two photos, is not particularly strong.

The legs do not look large enough to me to be Goshawk.

I can't comment on what you've heard and seen (i.e. there may well be 1 or more Goshawk present), but I strongly believe these photos show Cooper's Hawk. Goshawk is a very rare bird in the GTA except on migration, and 3 birds in a small park is likely completely unprecedented.

Keep in mind size and bulk can be very misleading for accipiters. Female Cooper's Hawk average about 65% heavier than males.