[wisb] ID help request, Manitowoc hawk w/ bright yellow orbital rings: Coopy or Sharpy?

From: Gloria Shiraef <shiraev@xxxxxxxx>
To: wisbirdn@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Sat, 23 Feb 2013 21:42:09 -0600

Hi folks!
Haven't posted in a long time, but I continue to read and enjoy the  
photos.

I have a couple of photos I'd love to appeal to you experts for help  
with, if you would.

We get a lot of hawk sightings out our way, near Walmart area in  
Manitowoc, and especially a lot of Coopers by our feeders over the  
years, but I've never seen this before.

I'm assuming I have either a male Cooper or a female Sharpy here, but  
what was different was the fact this one had bright yellow orbital  
rings and a bright yellow cere.

I scoured the internet and all my manuals, and only found one lonely  
picture of a sharp-shin with what appeared to be the same thing:

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Sharp-shinned_Hawk/id

Look at the full length photo, bottom left.

So I am wondering, is this characteristic of sharp-shinned hawks, does  
anyone know? Because I can't seem to find references to it, and I've  
taken hundreds of photos of Coopers and have NEVER seen this before on  
one of them. And what we normally get coming to the feeders are easily  
3-4 inches longer than this one, which was still at least maybe 15  
inches? But clearly I'm in that size range where it could be one or  
the other.

I've never positively identified a sharp-shinned hawk in this in- 
between size in my entire life, so I wouldn't trust myself now, even.  
But I am curious about the bright yellow orbital rings and cere, which  
I've never seen in any other area raptor I've observed here except the  
odd Merlin that chances to come around.

I read somewhere that sharp-shins' shoulders are pulled forward a  
little, (and I'm not sure about that), but if so, that would seem to  
fit this one. So I am delicately leaning toward a sharpy. :-)

The light was poor, and my photos aren't tack sharp or anything, as I  
had no time to set up for a thoughtful shot. So I brightened the  
photos up for this viewing, but the attributes I mentioned are still  
clearly visible in the originals. If anyone would like to see more  
views, I can add a few more if it would help to identify the hawk.  
This is a folder on my Photobucket site, and I will add any other pics  
needed to the same one.

http://s1006.photobucket.com/albums/af183/DesignsByShiraev/Birds/

Nest regards-
Gloria Shiraef
Manitowoc City/County

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[wisb] ID help request, Manitowoc hawk w/ bright yellow orbital rings: Coopy or Sharpy?

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