The Tuesday Teaser blog post on the "mystery" raptor set off quite a discussion about differentiating Sharp-shinned Hawks and Cooper's Hawks — two accipiter species that look very similar.

As Cooper's Hawks become more and more plentiful in the Meadowlands and elsewhere, these diagnostic tips can be most useful.  (one example — if the accipiter is perched on a post, as ours was, it is more likely to be a Cooper's.

We came across a page on the Cornell Ornithotology Lab website that's helpful.

The link is here.