Sharp-shinned Hawk

Sharp-shinned Hawk

The Sharp-shinned Hawk is the smallest accipiter in North America, a swift, agile predator of small birds that favors dense coniferous and mixed forest for breeding but ranges more widely through woodland edges and even gardens during migration and winter. Its diminutive size and dashing flight style make it a frequent, if fleeting, visitor near feeders.

Its very short, rounded wings and long tail are extreme versions of the accipiter body plan, optimized for split-second maneuvering in tight spaces among branches.

Identifying Sharp-shinned Hawk Feathers

• Primaries/secondaries: short and rounded, slate-grey above in adults (brown in juveniles), pale below with narrow dark barring.
• Tail feathers: long relative to the small body, squared off at the tip (rather than rounded as in Cooper's Hawk), with several dark bands and a narrower whitish terminal band.
• Body feathers: adult underparts are white finely barred with rufous; juveniles show coarse brown streaking on a whiter background.
• Size is the most useful clue: Sharp-shinned Hawk feathers are noticeably smaller and finer than Cooper's Hawk feathers, with a thinner shaft, though the squared vs. rounded tail-tip shape is also a helpful distinction when discernible.

Plumage

Adults show slate-blue-grey upperparts, red eyes, and white underparts finely barred with rufous, closely resembling Cooper's Hawk but smaller overall. Juveniles are brown above with bold dark streaking below on a pale background, molting into adult plumage after roughly a year. Females are notably larger than males, a size difference more pronounced in this species than in many other raptors.

Habitat & Range

Breeds across dense coniferous and mixed forest in Canada, the northern and mountainous United States, and parts of Mexico and Central America. Widespread on migration and in winter, when it ranges into woodland edge, scrub, and suburban gardens across most of North America. Northern populations are strongly migratory.

Behavior & Field Notes

Sharp-shinned Hawks hunt small birds using quick bursts of flight through dense vegetation, often ambushing prey at feeders or woodland edges. Nests are built in dense conifer stands, generally well hidden. They are less vocal away from the nest than some other raptors. A small, slate-grey or brown-streaked feather with a squared tail tip found near dense woodland or a bird feeder is consistent with this species, though it should be distinguished carefully from the similar but larger Cooper's Hawk.