Bird Identification: CLOSED: Sharp-shinned Hawk?, 0 by plantladylin

plantladylin wrote:
I got a picture of a hawk in the backyard a few minutes ago ... I have so much trouble trying to compare my photo's to ones in my bird book for identifying. Can anyone tell if this is a Sharp-shinned Hawk? I couldn't detect the roundish looking tail of a Cooper's Hawk nor any red patch on the wing/shoulder of the Red-shouldered Hawk, so I'm thinking maybe a Sharp-shinned? I'm also wondering if it's a juvenile because there were many small songbirds around when it flew in, but it didn't catch anything, LOL.

A second photo will follow ...