Cooper's Hawk

Cooper's Hawk Visits 

Cooper's Hawk

This week a Cooper's Hawk visited our yard.  I noticed it early in the morning sleeping in a tree on the river side our our property.  It stayed there for at least a half hour giving us ample time to observe and photograph it.  It was perched very quietly and appeared to be sleeping but with a casual eye for its surroundings.  At one point a Sharp-shinned Hawk came soaring on outspread wings around the house, which it often does checking on the bird activity around the feeders.  When it got fully into the yard, it did a double-take, putting on the brakes and doing a quick floundering turn-around and quickly winged its way back in the direction from which it had come. It clearly looked like it spied the Cooper's Hawk and made a quick decision to disappear.  The Cooper's Hawk remained on its perch in the tree.

How did I know the perched hawk was a Cooper's Hawk?  It was obviously large for an Accipiter.  That would make it either a Cooper's or a female Sharp-shinned.  The Cooper's Hawk is larger than the Sharp-shinned with the female being larger than the male.  That is also true of the Sharp-shinned Hawk.  But what makes it sometimes difficult is that sometimes their sizes are close.  The male Cooper's and the female Sharp-shinned can be nearly the same size.  The hawk showed the rufous horizontal striping on the breast of an adult.  Its tail tip was rounded and not square like that of the Sharp-shinned Hawk.  It showed a contrast between the dark cap and the gray nape which is also a trait of the Cooper's Hawk.  And, the behaviour of the Sharp-shinned was also a clue.  It recognized the Cooper's as a threat.  The Sharp-shinned showed its square tail clearly when it did its turn-around.

Cooper's Hawk

For good information on distinguishing a Cooper's Hawk from a Sharp-shinned Hawk, see a previous post on this blog entitled, 'Sharp-shinned or Cooper's?'.  Following is additional information on distinguishing the two species.  The length of the wing tips in the perched bird is a good marker.  In the Cooper's Hawk the wing tips extend less than half way down the tail.  In the Sharp-shinned they extend about half-way down the tail.  Head shape is also significant.  The Sharp-shinned head profile is always rounded.  The Cooper's looks rounded when its hackles are down but it often elevates its hackles.  The Sharp-shinned never raises its hackles.

When the birds are in fresh plumage as in the spring, the Cooper's has a wide white terminal tail band.  In the Sharp-shinned it is narrow.  Although this is not definitive and it is mentioned only in some texts, the distance the striping on the breast comes down may be significant.  In the Cooper's sometimes the striping is only on the breast and does not go all the way to the feet as seen in the photo above.  In the Sharp-shinned it usually comes all the way down to the feet.  Taken alone this is not significant but when taken into consideration with all the other features it may be helpful.  In the bird seen this week and shown above, the tail shape and the crown 'cap' confirmed for me it was a Cooper's Hawk.

This species is listed as rare in this province by the 'Birds of New Brunswick:  An Annotated List'.  It has bred here and is now seen occasionally in winter.  It frequents bird feeders and other areas where birds gather.  It is capable of taking a mourning dove or a robin.  Sharp-shinned Hawks normally take smaller birds.  Peterson's Field Guide to 'Hawks' lists the Cooper's as a permanent resident in Nova Scotia and the very southern part of New Brunswick.  I believe this to be true given the number of sightings we record of this species throughout the year especially here in southern NB.

Lapland Longspur

Lapland Longspur - A Winter Pipit 

Lapland Longspur [John Loch Photo]

The Lapland Longspur is a member of the Wagtail and Pipit Family (Moticillidae) and is uncommonly found here in fall migration and as a winter resident.  It is found in small flocks or singly with Snow Buntings or Horned Larks.  Shown above is a Lapland Longspur in winter plumage and accompanied by a Horned Lark (behind).

There are 4 species of longspurs in North America and the Lapland Longspur is the only one found here in New Brunswick.  The other 3 species are found in the west.  McCowan's Longspur and the Chestnut-collared Longspur breed in the southern parts of Alberta and Saskatchewan.  Smith's Longspur migrates through the prairie provinces and breeds in Nunavut, Northwest Territories and Yukon.

The Lapland Longspur is found all over North America.  It winters in most of the US and breeds in Canada's far north.  A few winter here in NB and NS.  We usually see them as they migrate through on their way south in the fall.  I usually see them every winter at the Mactaquac Dam feeding on the ground with Snow Buntings.

Lapland Longspur

To the untrained eye the Lapland Longspur looks sparrow-like.  It is 16 cm long (6.3 in), about the same size as a Song Sparrow.  On quick view it looks brown and striped.  On closer view it shows a bold facial pattern, a dark triangle outlining a  buff-coloured ear patch.  It has dark streaks or patches on its upper breast and sides.  It shows a wide buff-coloured eyebrow and its lower parts are white.  This is the plumage we almost always see.  The breeding plumage is remarkably different in the male with a black face, breast and cap and a chestnut nape.  All plumages show white outer tail feathers in flight.  The beautiful breeding plumage would be seen in the far north and we only see remnants of it as the birds migrate south in the fall.

Lapland Longspurs are circumpolar in distribution.  In the UK they are called Lapland Buntings.  They winter in eastern England and Scotland and breed in Norway and across Siberia.  This species feeds on the ground on insects, seeds, and spiders.  It prefers open land like farm fields, airports, pastures, and grassy coastal dunes.  It breeds on the tundra in the far north and its nest is a depression on the ground lined with grass, lichens, moss and rootlets.

Lapland Longspur

Differentiating the 4 species of longspurs might be difficult in the west.  Their flight songs are distinctive so learning them would help.  In flight a close observation of the outer-tail feathers also helps with identification.  Observing habitat and behaviour are also good clues.  The only other species recorded from New Brunswick is the Chestnut-collared Longspur.  There are 2 records; a male from Nantucket Island, Grand Manan in 1914 and a female from Castalia, Grand Manan in 1996.

Lapland Longspur  [Mark Morse Photo]

The photo above shows a male Lapland Longspur showing a remnant of its breeding plumage.  Note the black on the breast and top of head and the chestnut patch on the back of the neck.

If you would like to see a Lapland Longspur now is the time to get out and look for flocks of Horned Larks or Snow Buntings on open land foraging on the ground.  Look closely for a different bird in the flock and it just might be a Lapland Longspur.  Winter birding can be fun!

Common Merganser

Common Merganser - Our Largest Merganser

Common Merganser Male  [Lisa De Leon Photo]

The Common Merganser (Mergus merganser) is a common resident duck in New Brunswick.  It breeds here in summer and is present on most large open fresh waters during the winter.  I recently saw a raft of about 75 Common Mergansers sleeping on open water below the Mactaquac Dam.  They we huddled close together as they slept on the water, heads under their wings, all facing in the same direction.  Occasionally one would wake up and change its position only to soon tuck its head again.  It was a peaceful sight.  This is a common behaviour of this species in winter.

When one sees a flock of Common Mergansers on the water they show a lot of white, the white of the sides and breast of the males.  As seen in the photo above, the male has a white breast, sides, and wing feathers, a dark green head and back and a red bill.  The bill is long, narrow and serrated on the sides for catching fish.  The female has a rufous-brown head and neck, white chin and breast, gray body and red bill.  The white chin on the female is an identifying feature which distinguishes it from the female Hooded Merganser.  The female Red-breasted Merganser is similar  to the Common but has an all white chin, neck and breast.  

Common Merganser  Female [Lisa De Leon Photo]

The Common Merganser breeds as far north in Canada as there is open water.  Freeze-up in the fall pushes them south with some remaining on whatever open water is available. They nest in holes in trees or on the ground in wooded areas.  New Brunswick provides good nesting habitat for this species.  We have all seen female mergansers on our rivers, lakes and streams with a long line of ducklings behind them.  The females must make good mothers because you can sometimes see a female with 25 young ones, obviously there is some sharing of care of the young.  

Common Mergansers Sleeping

Common Mergansers feed on insects, fish and aquatic plants.  They feed either by diving and catching the prey underwater or by dabbling from the surface.  Sometimes while a flock is feeding gulls will hover around them waiting to steal the fish as they come to the surface.  

Common Mergansers are sometimes called 'sawbills' because of the serrated edge to their bills.  They share this name with other mergansers and smews, an European merganser.

Northern Goshawk

Northern Goshawk, Our Largest Accipiter

Northern Goshawk [Dorothy Chase Photo]

The Northern Goshawk (Accipiter gentilis) is our largest Accipiter, a group of short-winged, long-tailed raptors three species of which occur in North America and 46 around the world.  The other two North American accipiters also occur here in New Brunswick, the Cooper's Hawk and the Sharp-shinned Hawk.  Our Northern Goshawk is called 'Northern' because it has a southern relative, the (Southern) Pale Chanting Goshawk which occurs in eastern and southern Africa.

And while we are on names, the name, goshawk, is derived from goose hawk and is still pronounced in two syllables denoting the two original words, 'gos hawk'.  There is no 'sh' sound in goshawk!  Also interesting is its Latin name, Accipiter gentilis.  In medieval times only nobles and the upper class were permitted to use goshawks for falconry.  The nobility was known as the 'gentility', the 'gentle class'.  Thus the goshawk became A. gentilis.

The Northern Goshawk is 53-66 cm long (21-26 in).  Both adult males and females look alike but the females are usually larger.  These are thick-bodied hawks with wide wings.  The tail is long with light and dark gray intermittent bands.  The adult is dark gray above and light gray below with faint barring and vertical stripes on the breast.  There is a bold white or light-gray superciliary line (eyebrow), an important identifying feature.  The eye is red.  The juvenile is brown above with heavy mottling on its back.  Underneath it is light whitish beige covered with heavy dark vertical streaks.  The juvenile has dark and light brown alternating bands in its tail.  In both the adult and the juvenile there is very little white on the tip of the tail.  The juvenile has a yellow eye but also shows the identifying light-coloured superciliary line.

Northern Goshawk Juvenile [Internet Photo]

The only other species that one might mistake the Northern Goshawk for here in NB would be the Cooper's Hawk.  But the Cooper's has red barring on its breast and no 'eyebrow'.  The juvenile Cooper's Hawk is brownish like the juvenile Northern Goshawk but it has a longer rounded tail with a noticeable white tip and no superciliary line on the head.  It also has a larger-appearing head.

The Northern Goshawk loves the northern forest.  It breeds in our deep coniferous and deciduous forests.  It is an uncommon permanent resident here and also a migrant when northern birds move south in winter.  The normal range of this species includes all of Canada from the treeline south.  Its range extends into the US about to the mid-states (north to south) and more southward in mountainous areas.  

Goshawks feed on birds, mammals, reptiles and invertebrates.  They can take relatively large prey, for example, a pheasant or a dove.  This species nests high up in a large tree.  Its nest is made of sticks and twigs and is lined with bark, leaves, and conifer needles.  Incubation is 36 to 41 days and is carried out by the female.  Northern Goshawks are known for their fierce defence of their nests.  They will attack humans if they come anywhere near the nest.  They are very vocal around the nest, making a loud kek-kek-kek-kek sound.  I have been near a nest and believe me, there is no doubt that you are in 'their' territory!

Northern Goshawks also inhabit Europe and Asia.  Their world population is presently listed as stable.  Fortunately they have survived the falconry insult levied on this species in earlier times!  An interesting fact about this species is that an image of a goshawk was emblazoned on the helmet of Attila the Hun.  He knew how to represent fierceness!  For us, the Northern Goshawk is a species we should consider when we are trying to identify a large hawk in winter.

Northern Goshawk Male [Eric Forgues Photo]