Sharp-Shinned Hawk

On Sunday afternoon as we drove down our street and turned into the driveway, I saw a strange bird swoop down from the roof of a neighbor's house, skim the lawns, bob up over a bush and a tree, and then skirt the corner of another neighbor's roof, disappearing out of sight. It was large for a bird, but small for a raptor, and had a long, barred tail. Something in the way it behaved reminded me of a hawk. I looked it up this morning, and I believe what I saw was a sharp-shinned hawk. I thought at first it might be a young Cooper's hawk, but if memory serves, the head was small compared to the body. Notice how much the sharp-shinned hawk resembles a regular bird rather than a bird of prey, especially around the head. I've never seen a raptor fly so low in a yard in our neighborhood.

I wish I could properly upload a picture here, but the ones in public domain are too big for my posting.

The scientific name for sharp-shinned hawk is Accipiter striatus.