Cooper's Hawk vs Sharp-shinned Hawk: How to Tell Them Apart

A Cooper’s Hawk is crow-sized, with a big, blocky head, a dark cap over a paler nape and a tail that’s usually rounded at the tip. A Sharp-shinned Hawk is jay-sized, with a small, round head, a hooded look and a square-tipped tail. Check the head and the tail tip first; they settle most sightings.

These two hawks are the classic North American identification puzzle. They share the same colors, the same long tail and short, rounded wings, and the same habit of dashing through backyards after small birds. Both are North American birds, and both turn up at backyard feeders. The good news is that a handful of shape clues, checked in the right order, will sort out most birds.

Which is bigger, a Cooper’s Hawk or a Sharp-shinned Hawk?

The Cooper’s Hawk is bigger, but the sizes overlap. In both species the female is much larger than the male, so a big female Sharp-shinned Hawk can come close to a small male Cooper’s Hawk.

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology says a male Sharp-shinned Hawk is about the size of an American Kestrel, only slightly larger than a jay, and that females are about one-third bigger than males, approaching the size of a male Cooper’s Hawk. The Sharp-shinned Hawk is the smallest hawk in the United States and Canada. A Cooper’s Hawk, by contrast, is about crow-sized.

Sizes from the Cornell Lab’s All About Birds identification pages.

Size is only reliable at the extremes. A hawk the size of a Blue Jay is a Sharpie, and one the size of an American Crow is a Cooper’s. Anything in between needs a look at shape. Size is also hard to judge on a lone bird with nothing next to it, so treat it as a hint rather than proof.

How do you tell a Cooper’s Hawk from a Sharp-shinned Hawk?

Check the head first, then the tail tip, then the nape. Those three clues work on most views. Eye position, leg thickness and wingbeat help when you get a longer or closer look.

Clues from Project FeederWatch, the Cornell Lab and Audubon.

No single clue is perfect. Project FeederWatch uses words like “typically” and “usually” for the tail, and a molting or fanned tail can look different from the textbook shape. The more clues that point the same way, the more confident you can be.

How do you tell them apart when perched?

On a perched adult, start with the head and the back of the neck. The Cornell Lab describes adult Cooper’s Hawks as rather square-headed with a dark cap, while perched Sharp-shinned Hawks have a rounder head and no cap.

• Head shape. Audubon describes the Cooper’s Hawk’s head as a big dome, like a block stacked on its body. Project FeederWatch notes that raised feathers on the back of the head can give a Cooper’s a slightly crested look. A Sharpie’s head looks small and smoothly rounded.
• Cap vs hood. On an adult Cooper’s Hawk, the nape feathers are lighter than the crown, so the dark color stops like a cap. On an adult Sharpie, the crown and nape are the same dark blue-gray, which reads as a hood.
• Eye position. A Cooper’s Hawk’s eye sits close to the front of the head. A Sharpie’s eye looks closer to the middle.
• Legs. The Cornell Lab calls leg thickness a great clue on perched birds seen up close. Cooper’s Hawks have thicker legs and larger feet; Sharpies have thin, pencil-like legs.
• Tail. From below, look for a rounded tip with a wide white band (Cooper’s) or a square tip with sharp corners (Sharpie).

If you’re new to working through field marks like this, our guide on how to identify birds explains a simple routine that works for any species.

How do you tell them apart in flight?

Watch the head against the front edge of the wings. Audubon describes both species as a horizontal “T” in flight, but Sharpies look unbalanced, with small heads that barely project beyond the wings, while Cooper’s Hawks look more proportional, with larger heads sticking out in front.

Both use the flap-and-glide style typical of these forest hawks. Project FeederWatch describes Sharp-shinned Hawks as giving several quick wingbeats followed by a short glide, and Cooper’s Hawks as using slower wingbeats followed by a short glide. The Cornell Lab adds that Cooper’s Hawks rarely flap continuously, even when crossing open ground.

When the bird fans its tail overhead, check the tip again. The Cornell Lab notes the white band at the tail tip is wider on Cooper’s Hawks than on Sharp-shinned Hawks.

How do you tell juvenile Cooper’s and Sharp-shinned Hawks apart?

Look at the streaks on the underside. Juveniles of both species are brown above with streaked underparts for their first year, so the adult cap-and-nape clue doesn’t help.

• Juvenile Cooper’s Hawk: Neat, crisp brown streaks concentrated on the upper breast, with a mostly white lower belly. The Cornell Lab says this gives young Cooper’s Hawks a somewhat hooded look.
• Juvenile Sharp-shinned Hawk: Broad, blurry streaks that run well down the belly. Project FeederWatch describes them as heavy, bold and reddish.

Head size, eye position, leg thickness and tail shape still apply to young birds, so use them alongside the streaking.

Which hawk comes to bird feeders?

Both do. Project FeederWatch reports that both species have become more common around feeder areas, and the Cornell Lab calls them sometimes unwanted guests at feeders, looking for an easy meal. They are after the birds, not the seed.

What they hunt differs with their size:

Sources: Cornell Lab All About Birds species pages.

The Cornell Lab notes that urban Cooper’s Hawks often target Rock Pigeons and Mourning Doves, and that small birds are actually safer around Cooper’s Hawks than medium-sized ones. So a hawk that grabs a dove is more likely a Cooper’s, while one that picks off a House Finch or junco could be either.

Studies summarized by the Cornell Lab suggest feeders don’t greatly increase a bird’s chances of being taken by a Sharp-shinned Hawk. If a hawk starts hunting your yard every day, the usual advice is to take the feeders down for a week or two so the small birds disperse. Our guide to hawks at bird feeders covers that step by step, and placing feeders near dense shrubs, as explained in where to put a bird feeder, gives songbirds somewhere to escape. A brush pile does the same job in a yard without much cover.

Are Cooper’s and Sharp-shinned Hawks closely related?

Not as closely as they look. In 2025 the American Ornithological Society moved Cooper’s Hawk out of the genus Accipiter and into the genus Astur, based on genetic evidence, while the Sharp-shinned Hawk stays in Accipiter. The AOS put it simply: people have trouble telling the two apart, but they are not that closely related.

That’s why you’ll now see Cooper’s Hawk listed as Astur cooperii in newer checklists and apps, while older field guides still use Accipiter cooperii. The birds haven’t changed; only the family tree has.

What if you can’t tell them apart?

Then leave it open. Audubon says it’s okay not to have a definitive answer, because these two look almost exactly alike. eBird has a “Sharp-shinned/Cooper’s Hawk” option for exactly this situation, which keeps your checklist accurate without forcing a guess. Our guide on how to use eBird shows how to log birds like this.

To give yourself a better chance next time:

1. Take several photos from different angles, especially the head in profile and the tail from below.
2. Note what the hawk was chasing or eating, and what it perched near, so you can compare sizes later.
3. Compare the photos with the tables above, then try a photo ID feature in one of the best bird ID apps.

What helps you see these field marks?

A clear, bright view. Eye position, the edge of the cap, the width of the white tail band and leg thickness are small details, and a hawk rarely sits still for long. A good pair of binoculars kept by the window makes the difference between “a hawk” and “a Cooper’s Hawk”. Our guide to the best binoculars for birding covers the options, and the best binoculars for backyard birding focuses on close-range viewing from home.

Sources

• Cornell Lab of Ornithology, All About Birds: Cooper’s Hawk Identification
• Cornell Lab of Ornithology, All About Birds: Sharp-shinned Hawk Identification
• Cornell Lab of Ornithology, All About Birds: Sharp-shinned Hawk Similar Species
• Project FeederWatch: Tricky Bird IDs, Sharp-shinned Hawk and Cooper’s Hawk
• National Audubon Society: A Beginner’s Guide to IDing Cooper’s and Sharp-shinned Hawks
• American Ornithological Society: 66th Supplement to the Check-list of North American Birds