Friends of Salter Grove logo
Menu

Sharp-shinned Hawk

Accipiter striatus
Accipitridae
A small dapper-looking hawk
Head and neck feathers same color; looks like a hood
Not the case in Cooper's Hawk; looks like wearing a dark cap
Male Sharp-shinned is smaller than female as in most raptors
Immature Sharp-shinned next to immature Coooper's Hawk
Sharp-shinned smaller than crow
Well hidden among foliage waiting for prey
Flying through branches rather than in open
Head of adult barely extends beyond wings
Juvenile overhead looks like a flying T
Not just sharp-shinned but sharp-beaked as well ...
... for tearing into fresh prey; birds 90% of diet
Ready to feast on European Starling ...
... but in turn, becomes a meal for Common Raven
Clutch 3-8; determined by resources available
Immature exemplifies small head and large eye look of sharpie
Immature has large light spots on brown back
Transformation from immature plumage to ...
... adult plumage; takes two years whether in Washington State ...
... or Puerto Rico

The Sharp-shinned Hawk, also called a Sharpie by birders, is a small forest hawk that is usually seen at Salter Grove during the colder months.  It has been recorded only ten times from 2002 through 2024 but probably visits the park more often.  Observed along woodland edges throughout the park, this predacious migrant is easy to miss because it stays hidden in vegetation and only darts out to ambush unsuspecting small birds with its sharp talons.

It is widespread throughout North America, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean islands.  Individuals that breed in the north travel south for the winter, following its primary prey of small birds.

Although small birds like sparrows, robins and warblers make up ninety percent of the Sharp-shinned Hawk's diet, it will also opportunistically feed on small vertebrates like bats, lizards, mice and snakes, and large insects such as grasshoppers, and moths.  Unprotected nestlings of other birds are always fair game and some sharpies have learned to wait for easy prey at bird feeders.

If foraging shorebirds on a mud flat, or sparrows on a lawn suddenly take off in all directions, instead of flying off as a cohesive flock, it is probably because a marauding Sharp-shinned Hawk is on the attack.  Alternatively, the explosion of birds can be caused by the larger Cooper's Hawk which has a similar hunting style and plumage pattern.  Both hawks have slaty blue upperparts, barred orangish underparts and a long barred tail.  So how to tell the two apart?

The Sharp-shinned Hawk is larger than the American Robin but smaller than the American Crow and has a small rounded head and largish eyes.  The larger Cooper's Hawk is crow-size and has a blockier head and body.  The Sharp-shinned is uniformly colored on its back whereas the Cooper's looks like it has a dark cap because of a lighter area between the head and back.

In flight, the Sharp-shinned Hawk looks like a flying T because its small head does not protrude much beyond the wings that arch forward.  The Cooper's Hawk looks more like a flying cross because its head protrudes beyond straight wings.  A long barred tail is present in both but the Sharp-shinned hawk tends to have a square tip.