Cooper's Hawk

This feather belongs to an adult Cooper's Hawk, a agile aerial predator. Adults have blue-gray backs and characteristic reddish-brown barring on their white underparts. They possess long tails and relatively short, rounded wings designed for maneuvering through dense foliage.

Features distinct horizontal banding (barring). The bands alternate between a warm rufous-brown/cinnamon and a creamy white. This 'zebra' barring on the underparts is a hallmark of adult plumage.

Mixed structure; the distal (top) half is pennaceous and interlocked, while the proximal (bottom) half is highly plumulaceous (fluffy) for insulation.

The upper pennaceous part is smooth and matte, while the lower portion is very soft, airy, and silky to the touch.

Horizontal rufous/cinnamon banding on a white background combined with an extensive downy base.

Wooded areas, deciduous forests, and increasingly common in suburban backyards where they hunt smaller birds near feeders.

Found throughout North America, nesting from Southern Canada to Northern Mexico. Northern populations are migratory, while southern ones are year-round residents.

Apex avian predator in woodland ecosystems; helps regulate populations of medium-sized birds like pigeons, doves, and jays.

Sharp-shinned Hawk (Accipiter striatus) feathers are nearly identical but generally smaller; Red-shouldered Hawk feathers have darker, more chocolate-brown banding.

Cooper's Hawks are 'bird specialists,' often hunting other birds by flying low and using vegetation for cover. They were once nicknamed 'Chicken Hawks.'

Fair to Good. There is some separation of the barbs at the tip (vellum separation), and the plumulaceous section appears slightly clumped, suggesting it was molted or dropped naturally.