Minnesota Seasons - Cooper’s Hawk

Conservation • Description • Habitat • Ecology • Distribution • Taxonomy

Conservation Status

Photo by Kim Harcey

IUCN Red List

LC - Least Concern

NatureServe

N5B, N5N - Secure Breeding and Nonbreeding

SNRB, SNRN - Unranked Breeding and Nonbreeding

Minnesota

not listed


	Description
	Cooper’s Hawk is a medium-sized hawk. The cap and upper parts are bluish-gray. The nape of the neck is pale. The underparts are white with thin, horizontal, reddish-brown barring. Immature individuals are brown above with dark brown, vertical streaks on the breast and belly. The tail is relatively long and rounded at the end with a broad terminal band. It is bluish-gray above with black bars, pale below with dark bars.

	Size
	Male: 15″ to 17″ in length 27″ to 32″wingspan Female: 17″ to 19″ in length 32″ to 37″wingspan

	Voice


	A loud cak-cak-cak-cak-cak lasting 2 to 5 seconds. When delivering food to the nest or receiving food at the nest the female makes a descending whaa call.

	Similar Species
	Sharp-shinned Hawk (Accipiter striatus) is smaller, no more than 12″ in length. The nape of the neck is dark. The tail is shorter, more square, and has a narrower white terminal band.


	Habitat
	Riparian and mixed woodlands and woodlots; suburban yards with bird feeders


	Ecology
	Migration
	Late March to mid-May and mid-August through November

	Nesting


	Food
	Songbirds, squirrels, and chipmunks


	Distribution
	Occurrence
	Uncommon migrant, local breeder

	Maps
	The Minnesota Ornithologists’ Union All Seasons Species Occurrence Map


	Taxonomy
	Class	Aves (birds)
	Order	Accipitriformes (hawks, eagles, kites, and allies)
	Family	Accipitridae (eagles, hawks, and kites)
	Subfamily	Accipitrinae
	Genus	Accipiter (accipiters)

	Subordinate Taxa


	Synonyms


	Visitor Photos

	Share your photo of this bird.
			This button not working for you? Simply email us at info@MinnesotaSeasons.com. Attach one or more photos and, if you like, a caption.


	Kim Harcey






	Andrea Berger




	Molly and Robert Power

	First time seeing one on our game cam!



	Bonnie Shoebottom

	two days in a row on deck railing



	Norm & Peg Dibble

	Here’s a Cooper’s Hawk, October 8, 2014, a frequent visitor to our yard looking for small birds.



	Gerry Garcia




	Ida Marie

	… I photographed him about 1 block off of the Mississippi River last night July 29th, 2016 …



	MinnesotaSeasons.com Photos

	A Cooper’s Hawk staking out a bird feeder in a suburban back yard.

Camera


	Slideshows


	Cooper's Hawk Allen Chartier




	Cooper's Hawk Andy Reago & Chrissy McClarren




	Cooper's Hawk JMC Nature Photos

slideshow


	Visitor Videos

	Share your video of this bird.
		This button not working for you? Simply email us at info@MinnesotaSeasons.com. Attach a video, a YouTube link, or a cloud storage link.


	Kim Harcey

	Coopers Hawk 01 Jun 22, 2023

	About Cooper’s Hawk (Accipiter cooperii) Cambridge, MN 6/22/2023 Photo by Kim Harcey http://www.minnesotaseasons.com/Birds/Coopers_Hawk.html



	Other Videos


	Cooper's Hawk (Accipitridae: Accipiter cooperii) Trapping with Decoy Owl and Mistnet Carl Barrentine

	About Uploaded on Jun 28, 2009 Female Cooper's Hawk photographed at Grand Forks, North Dakota (28 June 2009). Banded by Tim Driscoll and Tom Perry.



	Cooper's Hawk (Accipiter cooperii) "Whaa" call Denise Wight

	About Published on Dec 23, 2015 An adult Cooper's Hawk (CAHA) giving the "whaa" call, from a leafless valley oak near Diablo Foothills Regional Park, Walnut Creek, California, 23 December 2015. This hawk was responding to another bird, which we did not see, making the same call from deep in a live oak about 100 feet away. I have only heard this call during the breeding season near COHAs' nests. The Birds of North America states that this call is "primarily given by females".



	Cooper's Hawk (Accipitridae: Accipiter cooperii) Male Carl Barrentine

	About Uploaded on Jul 4, 2009 Photographed at Grand Forks, North Dakota (04 July 2009). "This morning / the hawk / rose up / out of the meadow's browse / and swung over the lake-- / .... / and I said: remember / this is not something / of the red fire, this is / heaven's fistful / of death and destruction..." --Mary Oliver



	The Cooper's Hawk (Accipitridae: Accipiter cooperii) Carl Barrentine

	About Uploaded on Dec 31, 2009 A brief but contemplative look at the Cooper's Hawk, which is a common breeding resident of forests, shelterbelts, and treed suburban residential areas in the upper midwest United States, Specimens shown here were photographed in North Dakota. SHOW MORE



	Cooper's Hawk - Épervier de Cooper - Azor de Cooper - Accipiter cooperii elgalopinos

	About Uploaded on Feb 1, 2011 Montreal botanical garden - Jardin Botanique de Montreal Quebec, Canada

Camcorder


Visitor Sightings

Report a sighting of this bird.
		This button not working for you? Simply email us at info@MinnesotaSeasons.com. Be sure to include a location.



Kim Harcey 5/1/2023	Location: Cambridge, MN



Kim Harcey 4/16/2023	Location: Cambridge, MN



Ellen 1/18/2023	Location: Shieldsville, MN



Andrea Berger 12/28/2022	Location: Golden Valley, MN



Molly and Robert Power 4/9/2021	Location: Albany MN First time seeing one on our game cam!



Bonnie Shoebottom 10/15/2019	Location: Centerville, Minnesota two days in a row on deck railing



Gerry Garcia 4/18/2019	Location: West Bloomington, MN



Ida Marie 7/29/2016	Location: Ramsey, MN … I photographed him about 1 block off of the Mississippi River last night …



Norm & Peg Dibble 10/8/2014	Location: Maple Grove, MN Here’s a Cooper’s Hawk, October 8, 2014, a frequent visitor to our yard looking for small birds.



MinnesotaSeasons.com Sightings

Burnsville, MN Des Moines River SNA Lakeville, MN Tamarack Nature Center