Nope its a red shouldered hawk.

Yes, this is a classic red-shouldered hawk, probably a male (it's a bit small).

great pic, he's totally waiting for some wayward songbird to come to dinner!

But he'll have a tough time taking any half-healthy songbird. Red-shouldereds commonly take frogs and mice. Like the slightly larger red-tail, this buteo hawk doesn't have the lightning speed needed to take birds. Any birds that are taken are sick or injured. But this fellow may have seen a mouse wander out for some of the seed leavings on the ground below. That's what he's looking over his not-so-red shoulder for.

John,

That is a very interesting observation. He/she was initially spotted on the ground right next to the pond where we have lots of fish and frogs. The ice had just melted with all the rain and higher temps so perhaps the water and/or the fish caught his attention. The frogs have left for the winter and are probably hibernating either in the ground/leaves or somewhere in the water (not sure where they go but I usually see them wander away from the pond in the fall). But then of course we have plenty of mice and voles too!

L

Beautiful shot of a beautiful hawk!

Very beautiful photos. I agree that this is a male red shouldered hawk. I live in Bethany, CT and have 2 pair that are here all year long.
Rich

The size difference between male and female RSHs is very slight, and I'm not sure if you can tell in a picture. (The difference in weight is an average of 70 grams, which is the weight of a Blue jay.)

I would agree with you Elly, there is very little accuracy in guessing based on such a small weight difference.
Nathan

It's not weight, it's size. The head here is smallish, and the torso length is shortish. You have to discount the fluffed-up body feathers, as hawks often do this when it's cold and they sit. Compress the body feathers back down and the bird will appear to be small. Discount the diameter, count the length.

John thats still very iffy at best, and you cannot say with certainty the sex of this bird.
Nathan

There is complete overlap in length and width of both sexes. A large male may very well be larger than a small female.
Nathan

I've handled many hawks, including RSH. There is very little size difference between these individuals.

It's true that the sexes of RSHs can overlap in size, and there is no way of knowing for sure the sex of this specimen from just this image. One takes only an informed quess. But the sexes do differ. Average male RSH weight is about 550g. Females average about 700g. That's not insignificant (although some females are smaller than some males, and vice versa).

True John, but what we are saying is that you cannot state with any degree of accuracy the sex of this bird without actually taking measurements. Considerable overlap does occur in length of males and females. Females 48-61cm long and males 43-58cm.
Nathan

whew, tough crowd!

Hahaha lol very tough.

Ignorance is bliss. I'm just happy to see the pretty picture! ;-)

Ignorance Sowngrow? Me and Elly NJ were simply addressing the folly of making assumptions. Nothing I have said has been out of ignorance, it has been based on factual information, so you may want to reconsider that statement.
Thank You,
Nathan

Nathan-Relax, I didn't mean you or Elly were ignorant. I know otherwise. I was saying I enjoy being ignorant in this respect, as I don't have to try and argue which bird this is. I have no idea which it is. I have seen over and over again the difficulty in determining from a photo whether a hawk is one type or another. So, I'm happy just to enjoy the poster's photos.
Thus - My ignorance is bliss in this regard!"
Get it?

LOL, ok point taken, sry about confusion.
Nathan