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 ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]