Cooper’s Hawk or Red-tailed Hawk - What Are The Differences?

Cooper’s hawk (Accipiter cooperii) and the Red-tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) are both common and widespread birds of prey in North America. These birds occupy a wide range of habitats and are no strangers to backyards and suburban areas. So how do you tell the difference between these two hawks?

One of the most obvious differences between the cooper’s hawk and the red-tailed hawk is their size. Red-tailed hawks are significantly larger and more heavily built on average, although both species are quite variable in size. The cooper's hawk also has a dark cap, distinctly grayish back with reddish underparts, and a relatively long tail. This contrasts with the overall brown upper parts of the red-tailed hawk, which also has a characteristic reddish tail when viewed from the back.

There are some other physical differences to look out for too, including eye color, and tail banding. Vocalizations, hunting, feeding, and flying behaviors also differ between these two hawks, and these are covered later in this article.

Read on if you’d like to learn how to distinguish between two of America's most common raptors. We’ll also cover some interesting facts about the habits and biology of these birds along the way. So let’s get started!

Which is more common, Cooper’s hawks or Red-tailed hawks?

Both cooper’s hawks and red-tailed hawks are common and widespread American raptors. Red-tailed hawks have a much larger extent of occurrence, however, occupying a larger range of habitats and extending further to the north.

Red-tailed hawks are seen more often than Cooper’s hawks. Cooper’s hawks are a more cryptic species that spend less time soaring and don’t usually perch as prominently as the red-tailed hawk. Red-tailed hawks also call more often than cooper’s hawks, so you are more likely to notice them out in the field.

Absolute numbers are impossible to determine, but the total population of red-tailed hawks is estimated at as many as 2 million individuals, making this species far more numerous than the cooper’s hawk with an estimated population of 800 000 individuals.

Both species are listed as Least Concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and both species have increased dramatically in the last four decades.

Other differences between Cooper’s hawks and red-tailed hawks

Family Red-tailed hawks and coppers’ hawks are from different raptor genera. Although they are both known as hawks, it’s pretty helpful to separate them further into buteos and accipiters respectively. This distinction is helpful here and will also come in handy when identifying other American hawks in the field.

Red-tailed hawks are from the Buteo genus. These are medium to large hawks that mostly hunt by catching their prey on the ground. They have broad wings with prominent primary feathers when seen in flight. Other well-known buteo hawks include red-shouldered, ferruginous, and Harris’s hawks.

Cooper's hawks are from the Accipiter genus. These are mostly small to medium-sized raptors that hunt for birds on the wing. They typically have short, rounded wings which allow them to fly at high speed between the branches and foliage in wooded environments. The sharp-shinned hawk is another example of an accipiter hawk.

Flight In open flight, cooper’s hawks have a characteristic flight pattern that consists of a few flaps, followed by a period of gliding. These birds will also soar, and then their long tails and rounded wings are conspicuous.

Red-tailed hawks spend much more time soaring at heights of up to 2,750ft (840m). You will see these hawks turning in circles or using a headwind to stay fixed in position while scanning the ground below.

Habitat Cooper’s and red-tailed hawks have different prey and hunting strategies, which is part of the reason why these birds are usually found in different habitats. Red-tailed hawks are mostly found in more open areas, whereas cooper’s hawks are birds of woodland and forest habitats.

Life expectancy

Wild red-tailed hawks are known to live as long as 25 years, and one captive specimen was recorded to live over 29 years. Cooper’s hawks have not been found to live as long, with a record age of 20 years.

Calls The typical red-tailed hawk call is a two to three-second long high-pitched call. It can be described phonetically as ‘keeearrr’, or ‘kee-eee-arr’. This call is most often made while the birds are in flight, and may sound like a single drawn-out note or have a shaky quality.

Cooper’s hawks have a more varied repertoire of calls, although they tend to call less often than red-tailed hawks. The most commonly reported calls include a ‘cak-cak-cak’ alarm call, a short ‘kik’ note mostly produced by males, and a longer ‘whaa’ call mostly produced by females.

Female Cooper’s hawk vs Female Red-tailed hawk

The females of both cooper’s and red-tailed hawks are significantly larger than the males. Apart from the size difference, the sexes are similar, so you can look for the same visual clues listed above when telling females from each species apart.