Cooper's Hawk

This feather belongs to the Cooper's Hawk, a medium-sized raptor known for its acrobatic flight. Adults have blue-gray backs and rufous-barred underparts, while their long, banded tails act as a rudder during high-speed chases through trees.

Features 3-4 broad, dark grayish-brown to blackish bands alternating with lighter silvery-gray to off-white bands. The tip shows a faint white terminal band, which is a classic field mark for this species.

Mostly pennaceous (tightly interlocked) for flight stability, transitioning to a small plumulaceous (fluffy) downy section at the superior umbilicus near the base.

Smooth and stiff to the touch. The surface is matte rather than glossy, designed for silent, stealthy flight through dense canopy.

Wide, even dark bands; crisp white terminal tip; elongated rectrix shape; large size compared to Sharp-shinned Hawk.

Woodlands, forest edges, and increasingly common in leafy suburban areas where they hunt backyard songbirds.

Year-round resident throughout much of the United States and Mexico; northern populations in Canada migrate to the southern U.S. and Central America for winter.

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

Sharp-shinned Hawk (Accipiter striatus) feathers are nearly identical but significantly smaller and usually lack the broad white tip. Red-shouldered Hawk tail feathers have narrower white bands and more numerous dark bands.

Cooper's Hawks are 'stealth fighters' of the bird world. They primarily hunt other birds and have been known to fly at top speeds through thick brush, often sustaining small fractures in their wishbones from the force of impact.

Fair to Good. There is some mechanical damage (rifting) on the trailing vane, likely from impact with branches or during the molting process.