Cooper's Hawk (also known as Big Blue Darter, Chicken Hawk)

A medium-sized hawk known for its stealthy flight through dense timber. It features rounded wings and a long, rounded tail with distinct dark bands, perfectly adapted for rapid acceleration and agile navigation.

Alternating bands of dark chocolate brown/slate grey and pale whitish-grey or buff. The tip is tipped with white, and the underside shows a slightly muted version of the dorsal pattern.

Pennaceous vane with tightly interlocked barbs and barbules along the shaft, transitioning to a small plumulaceous tuft at the base. Intact and in good condition.

Stiff, smooth, and matte finish with a rigid vane capable of withstanding air resistance during high-speed aerial maneuvers.

Distinctive bold dark and light banding across the width of the feather, a white terminal tip on the outer tail feathers, and a sturdy, pale central rachis.

Deciduous and mixed forests, open woodlands, wooded suburbs, river groves, and forest edges where they hunt medium-sized birds and mammals.

Year-round resident across most of the United States, southern Canada, and parts of Mexico. Northern populations migrate to Central America for winter.

Apex avian predator helping regulate populations of medium-sized birds and small mammals, serving as an important indicator of woodland ecosystem health.

Sharp-shinned Hawk (smaller with a square or notched tail tip) and Northern Goshawk (larger, with more pronounced white supercilium and heavier barring).

Cooper's Hawks are exceptional aerial acrobats, capable of high-speed chases through dense tree branches and can compress their wings to navigate tight spaces.

Good condition with intact barbs, clean rachis, and no visible fraying, fault bars, or parasitic damage.