Hi Michel,

The large white splotches on the back of your bird can be shown by 
young Cooper's (and I think all three accipiters to some extent).  
The "speckled" appearance for young Goshawks referenced by Sibley 
refers to something different and more sublte.  The individual 
feathers on the backs of young Goshawks are light brown, with dark 
brown tips and sometimes some white areas, creating a distinctive 
speckled appearance.  See here: 
http://www.ilbirds.com/index.php?topic=284.0  Your bird lacks this 
speckling, as well as the irregular dark bands on the tail 
bordered by light edges, and pointed individual rectrices, which 
are charcteristic of perched juvie Goshawks.

If you want more comments (and are not getting more offline), you 
might post your photos in the Bird Id Q&A subforum here:  
http://www.birdforum.net  Listserves, such as MDOsprey, are a bit 
awkward for ID discussions, e.g. because you can't post photos or 
hotlinks to photos.

Good birding!
Jim Moore
Rockville, Maryland
PLEASE REPORT YOUR BIRD SIGHTINGS to http://ebird.org/


On 9/27/2010 9:40 AM, Cavigelli, Michel wrote:
> Folks,
>
> While the goshawk, if that is what it is, in my mediocre photos has a white supercilium and white on the back, both characteristics that Sibley highlights to distinguish Goshawk from Cooper's Hawk, the tail pattern looks more like Sibley's Cooper's.  Is the supercilium and white on the back part of the natural variation in Cooper's that Sibley does not address?  I did not see the bird's breast as it flew away while I was trying to get better photos.  While not diagnostic, its flight seemed markedly stronger than the Cooper's I am used to seeing in this same location.
>
> Any accipiter experts (or others!) care to comment?  Thanks.
>
> Michel
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Maryland Birds&  Birding on behalf of Cavigelli, Michel
> Sent: Sun 9/26/2010 10:37 PM
> To: 
> Subject: [MDOSPREY] juvenile goshawk, BARC
>
> Thursday last week, as I was biking to work I saw a large bird in a tree that I assumed must be a bald eagle (based on size from a distant).  As I got closer I noticed the shape was all wrong and it looked like a Cooper's hawk (juvenile)...but, it was too big and it had a distinct supercilium.  I got some mediocre photos and tonight I finally had a chance to look at them and look at Sibley to confirm my earlier suspicions (I am not used to considering goshawks, though this would be my 2nd one at BARC since 2008).  Am I just lucky to see 2 in 2+ years or are goshawks more common (becoming more common?) than the Yellow Book suggests?
>
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/33230079@N05/
>
>
> Michel Cavigelli
> Greenbelt
>