I don't know much about hawks, but I know they are opportunistic and don't always rely on live catches for their meals...I always see them swooping in on road kill. Perhaps you might try putting a small bit of ground beef out.....but maybe not on the deck itself, possibly somewhere further out in the yard....that way (hopefully) the hawk doesn't associate you with his "find". I know a lot of people won't agree, and that nature should be survival of the fittest...but maybe this hawk just needs a little bit of help to get through. I know I would have a hard time sitting back and watching it suffer.

I make my suet mixture using suet or lard. I melt the fat in a glass bowl in the microwave until liquid. Then I add crunchy peanut butter, which melts in the hot fat. Then I add the dried ingredients - corn meal, flour, oats (usually ground in blender), ground eggshells, crushed nuts, a little jam or jelly, etc. The mixture is about 1/2 fat, 1/2 dried ingredients - maybe a little more dried. I aim for a mixture that is the texture of Play-doh - it clumps together easily for the suet log, but also crumbles into pieces that I spread in a tray feeder. I made the suet log over 3 years ago out of an old red Pine log and glued lots of perches and branches. It did not have much bark on it - which is fine, except that over time the log has darkened quite a bit, perhaps because of the oils in the suet mixture. Also, most of the perches and branches have broken and fallen off. This birds don't seem to care. If you put perches on the log, this will enable many more birds to eat more easily. However, this isn't necessarily a good thing because with mine, it enables the Starlings and Blue Jays to hog the suet log, and it encourages House Sparrows. My suet log is pole-mounted with a squirrel/raccoon baffle, so nothing gets onto the log but the birds. Here's what the suet mixture looks like - Some Bluebirds on the suet log a couple years ago. They don't eat that much on the suet log any more, because I usually spread crumbles in a tray for them.

Tail shape on perched accipiters can be a dodgey ID point. The attached link is a googled image of Sharp-shinned showing a seemingly rounded tail. The bird in question also has what appears to be a fairly rounded head (Cooper's have flattish heads). These are talking points-I'm still not 100%, but sticking with my tentative ID. -O- Here is a link that might be useful:

I'm sorry. Cruelty is keeping bird feeders and letting your cats out. Remember this, too: each time your cat kills one adult bird with nestlings in the nest, the entire brood dies. Maiming a bird kills it, too. one superficial puncture causes infection and death. How do I know this? I used to do avian rehab, and I had to deal with the corpses. The following birds were injured by cats and brought to The Raptor Trust in May and June of 2003. The outcome of their injuries are listed as follows: D/24 = The bird died within 24 hours of its injuries. E = Euthanized; the bird was injured so badly that it would never recover. D = The bird died of its injuries. R = The bird was released 1. 5/2 Mourning dove D on arrival 2. 5/7 Mourning dove nestling D/24 3. 5/11 Baltimore oriole Severely infected wound R 6/28 4. 5/14 Mourning dove Infected wing fracture E 5/26 5. 5/14 Carolina wren Compound left wing fracture in the joint. E 6. 5/15 Mourning dove juvenile Gasping blood R 6/15 7. 5/17 Magnolia warbler R 7/11 8. 5/20 Mourning dove R wing destroyed E 9. 5/18 Tufted titmouse Right wing destroyed E 10. 5/27 Cardinal D on 6/4 11. 5/24 Grackle fledgling D/24 12. 5/24 House finch fledgling D on 5/27 13. 5/27 Mourning dove fledgling D/24 14. 5/27 Cardinal nestling E 6/4 15. 5/29 Mourning dove fledgling Severe R wing fracture E 16. 5/30 Grey catbird Feather loss D 6/12 17. 5/30 Ovenbird Puncture R 6/9 18. 6/2 Robin fledgling D/24 19. 6/2 Robin nestling Laceration D/24 20. 6/3 Downy woodpecker fledgling Head and eye injuries D/24 21. 6/3 Blue jay L wing destroyed E 22. 6/3 Mourning dove juvenile L wrist injured R 6/15 23. 6/5 Mourning dove nestling Spinal damage D/24 24. 6/5 Red-bellied woodpecker nestling Fractured leg R 7/19 25. 6/8 Mourning dove D/24 26. 6/8 Mourning dove juvenile Laceration D/24 27. 6/8 Mourning dove Puncture D/24 28. 6/9 Starling Fractured shoulder E 29. 6/10 Mourning dove Fractured wing E 30. 6/10 Cardinal juvenile Spinal damage D/24 31. 6/11 Catbird D/24 32. 6/11 Mourning dove fledgling Head and neck lacerations E 33. 6/12 Robin nestling Belly ruptured E 34. 6/12 Mourning dove Lacerations and punctures D/24 35. 6/12 Mourning dove Neck lacerations R 6/30 36. 6/13 Blue jay fledgling Punctures D 6/17 37. 6/13 Baltimore oriole Internal damage E 38. 6/14 Blue jay fledgling Lacerations R 7/28 39. 6/16 Rose-breasted grosbeak nestling Punctures E 6/20 40. 6/16 Mourning dove nestling R shoulder fracture E 41. 6/16 Mourning dove fledgling Punctures and feather loss R 7/19 42. 6/17 Common grackle juvenile Spinal damage E 6/28 43. 6/19 Mourning dove nestling Punctures D 8/22 44. 6/22 Downy woodpecker D/24 45. 6/22 Robin fledgling Lacerations D/24 46. 6/23 Mourning dove juvenile R wrist destroyed E 47. 6/24 Blue jay fledgling R 8/4 48. 6/24 Cardinal nestling L leg fractured D/24 49. 6/26 Robin juvenile Punctures R 8/20 50. 6/26 Cardinal fledgling R 7/25 51. 6/27 Mourning dove fledgling D/24 52. 6/29 Common grackle fledgling Spinal damage D/24 53. 6/30 Robin R wing fracture E 54. 6/30 Robin R wing fracture E Cat-caught birds released: 12 (22%) Cat-caught birds died: 24 (45%) Cat-caught birds euthanised: 18 (33%) Young birds caught (nestling, fledgling and juveniles): 32 (59%) Adult birds caught: 22 (41%) These notes do not include the dozens of birds that showed symptoms of being cat-caught (i.e. suffered from puncture wounds or ripped apart); only birds that were seen by the finders in the cats mouth were listed in our informal study. It is also possible that some of the birds in our study were injured previously (i.e. collided with a vehicle or window) and subsequently grabbed by a cat. However, the notes do confirm some sad facts: 1. Most birds caught by cats are young birds, not yet able to fly or fly well. 2. Most birds caught by cats (78%) are killed.