Raptor Wednesday

A sudden eruption of Blue Jays made me turn around and circle back towards all the shrieking.

Not so much bigger than the Jays enraged by its presence, this hawk was perched in a beech.

Since it was so small, I looked closer still. Note the minimal white on the tail tips.

Note how these tail feathers don’t have an extreme difference in lengths. They’re also not super long in comparison to the body.

The head, too, seems smallish compared to the shoulders/body. It looks like the last Accipiter standing (in North America)*: Sharp-shinned Hawk/Accipter striatus.

*After the recent splitting of Cooper’s and American Goshawk out of the Accipiter genus into Astur.