This sounds like quite an amazing hawk...a
Cooper's/Red-shouldered/Rough-legged hybrid!!  Seriously though, the breast  description would certainly
indicate a Sharp-shinned, Cooper's or  Red-shouldered.  The size you stated is
awfully specific for the  observation conditions reported (the exact measurements
given for a  female Cooper's in Jim McCormac's Bird's Of Ohio).  Since size is
one of the hardest field marks to determine in the field & then relate to
others, I give less credence to this than I do to other characteristics.
Nevertheless, this general range would fit either a Cooper's or a  Red-shouldered.
Cooper's & Sharp-shins have dark caps, with Cooper's  usually darker.  The
rest of the head can also give a pretty dark  appearance under some lighting
conditions though you can usually tell the cap is  darker than the rest of the
face.  The short, black & white tail  definitely describes that of a
Red-shouldered; to my eye that is the most  noticeable field mark of a Red-shouldered,
especially in flight.  Cooper's  & Sharp-shins also have the banded tail but the
light bands are not as pure  white & their tails usually do look long in
proportion to the body.   The fact that no red was visible on the shoulders is not
really a problem...  this reddish color is very difficult to see in most
siturations. You did  not state whether the bird had a brown or gray back.  That
information  would definitely help separate the 2.   As to the "leggings",
well that would certainly indicate a Rough-legged but since none of the other
characteristics fit & most importantly, the habitat & behavior are  definitely
not that of a Rough-legged, we can probably assume that this  appearance came
from the practice of many birds in frigid weather of  fluffing out the breast
feathers which can at least partially cover their  legs.

All of the questionable field marks brings us to the matter of habitat  &
behavior, factors which should in fact be the first, not the last,  factors to
consider in identifying birds.  The fact that this hawk  took a bird from your
yard (I am making that assumption  based on the fact your were doing the
GBBC--were there feeders involved?)   tells me it was most likely a Sharp-shinned or
a Cooper's.  So now we need  to know, did the head appear flat (Cooper's) or
slightly rounded  (Sharpie)?  Did it look like a "no-neck" (Sharpie) or was
the head extended  from the body (Cooper's)?  Did it look "fierce" (Cooper's) or
"startled"  (Sharpie)?  Placement of the eyes give these 2 birds 2 distinct
looks.  Without knowing these helper clues, & if your size  guesstimate is
accurate, I would vote for this bird being Cooper's.  The  short tail gives me
some problems but that too could have been a hard thing to  accurately
determine.   Cooper's are more often seen in back  yards than are Red-shoulders and are
far more likely to take a bird as  prey.  In general, accipiters are bird
eaters and buteos are mammal  eaters.

I hope that these comments will help you on your way to learning how to
identify hawks.  The first, though not necessarily the easiest, step is to  learn
the difference between accipiters & buteos.  Once you get  comfortable in
determining quickly which family you are looking at, the rest of  the process will
sort of fall into place.

Good Luck with your GBBC.  And count yourself fortunate to have  witnessed
this event.  Remember, most predators miss far more prey than  they catch so to
be able to observe this life & death struggle gives us much  needed insight
into the lives of all wildlife.

Laura Dornan

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