Towheeblog

Just got to see this video of bathing raptor, coutesy of C. S. Henry. Click to watch a Coop’s delight.

Here’s my take:  juvenile, vertically streaked chest with no rust coloringthe bird is molting,  note the shorter feathers in the middle of the tail, but it still looks like a rounded tail, not the sharpie’s blunt one,
The legs are meaty,  sharpies are noted for their twig-like legs; most telling to me, a real neck and a dark crown on the head, both Coop characteristics and a head that is not under-sized like a sharpie’s.
In an urban or suburban setting, a Coop is more likely this season…in my experience in summer most West Coast sharpies are breeding in dense, more remote forests…Coops will nest in your neighbor’s oak and hunt your backyard year round…their biggest problems–hiding from GHOs at night and avoiding those loud-mouthed crows in daylight.

In the Bay Area Evleen shares sightings oni SFBIrds…here’s her back gardenn visitor one evening: