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Glite Dictionary
Cooper's hawk

Cooper's hawk

3 7.1
A medium-sized grey North American bird of prey that flies quickly through woods
  • noun
  • /ˈkuːpərz hɔk/
  • US
translation icon : halcón de Cooper
  • While hiking in the forest, I spotted a Cooper's hawk soaring above the treetops.

Examples

  • A Cooper's hawk circles, uttering a singular scream upon completion of each revolution.

    Academic text (2000)

  • The Cooper's hawk is often seen darting through the trees in search of small prey.

  • A Cooper's hawk circles, uttering a singular scream upon completion of each revolution.

    Academic text (2000)

  • During our bird-watching trip, we identified a Cooper's hawk perched silently on a branch.

Synonyms

Accipiter cooperii
vsCooper's hawk
  • Specialized
9.9

A blue-grey North American hawk that flies fast through trees to catch small birds

is the common everyday name rather than the scientific form
blue darter
vsCooper's hawk
  • US
9.9

A blue-grey hawk from North America that flies fast and darts through trees

is the formal species name in scientific contexts rather than a nickname

Surface Forms

Cooper's hawk singular
Cooper's hawks plural

Morphology

Cooper's + hawk

The phrase combines a possessive proper name ('Cooper's') with the noun 'hawk', so a learner who knows 'hawk' and the possessive pattern can infer it refers to a particular kind/species of hawk named after Cooper. While they may not know the species' specific characteristics, the basic meaning 'a type of hawk' is compositionally derivable and this naming pattern is cross-linguistically common.

Etymology

Cooper's hawk comes from the name of William Cooper, an early American who studied birds and first described this bird. Picture a man named Cooper watching a hawk and putting his name on it, and that is why the name today means this particular bird.