Yep, here too. And on the ground quite often picking up sticks for the nest. tj

BN, It's a rare day that I disagree with you on any ID, but this juvenile hawk has too many uniform upper chest markings to be a Red-tailed. This is a juvenile Red-shouldered Hawk. The chest/belly pattern fits that species perfectly. I'd point out the barred primaries/secondaries on the folded wings, but, alas, the tree trunk blocks that view. I am certain the barring would be there. I am certain it's a Red-shouldered. BN is correct, though, in distinguishing this Buteo from an Accipiter (Cooper's/Sharp-shinned/Goshawk). The wing tips come too close to the tail tip. This post was edited by TMFF on Thu, Dec 12, 13 at 17:22

Yes, your bird was a juvenile Cooper's Hawk. Looked like a big, nicely marked one. Sorry it took so long for someone to respond; I hadn't checked this forum in some time. Cooper's Hawks are Accipiters and Accipiters are built for ambushing and chasing birds around and about. I have read they do occasionally take smaller squirrels (such as Eastern Gray), but the vast majority of the time they stalk bird feeders to take birds. The squirrel probably felt safe challenging the Cooper's for that reason. Had that been a Red-tailed Hawk hanging around, there may have been a different reaction by the squirrel....

This is absolutely an adult Cooper's Hawk with the dark "capped" appearance to the head and also the grey auriculars (cheeks). Tails really cannot be assessed from the dorsal view (Cooper's show graduated lengths and Sharp-shinned show even lengths, but this is best assessed from the underside of the tail). Sharp-shinned Hawks do not show grey cheeks, either. The grey cheeks are exclusive to adult male Cooper's Hawks, and the very bluish slate colored back and wings further support male (female adult Coops are duller).