Accipiter cooperii

The Cooper's hawk belongs to the accipiter family of raptors. Accipiters are built for short bursts of speed, with an ability to twist, turn and circle through trees, branches, shrubs and other thickets as they chase birds on the wing. Accipiters are the birds of prey that most birders see chasing other birds at the backyard feeder.

Birders enjoyed spotting the pictured juvenile on a recent Wild Bird Center walk to the east Kaysville foothills. The juvenile lacks the red eye of the adult. It has a breast with dark vertical running streaks and a brown back. The adult bird has horizontal reddish lines across its chest and a blue-gray back.

A good field mark in flight is the banded tail that is rounded at the end with the head projecting out in front of the leading edge of the wings. The other raptor often confused with the Cooper's hawk is another accipiter, the sharp-shinned hawk. Its tail is squared off and the head does not project out in front of the wing.

Cooper's hawks usually hunt from an ambush perch, where speed and surprise are to their advantage.

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* BILL FENIMORE is owner of the Layton Wild Bird Center, www.wildbird. com/layton. Join the Wild Bird Center for a free bird walk to the Ogden River Parkway Saturday at 8 a.m. Call 801-525-8400 or visit www.wildbird.com for more details.