Thanks for looking, commenting, and ID-ing, I appreciate it. I was guessing Harris hawk, but it's good to get confirmation from REAL birders, LOL. I keep an AZ bird guide book right by the back window, but I'm still not great, LOL. Thanks again. Nature is wonderful isn't it? Happy gardening! Grant

Sure looks like a first year, immature, Cooper's Hawk. BN

This is undoubtedly a juvenile Northern Goshawk and a FANTASTIC find! They are not commonly seen, let alone perched in the open. They are of the genus Accipiter, and are closely related to the more common Cooper's Hawk and Sharp-shinned Hawk. What makes this a Goshawk is: (in comparison to the similar Cooper's), the tail bands are wavy and have pale outlines to the dark bands, and also the upperparts are heavily marked and rather decorative. The massive white eyebrow (supercilium) CAN occur on juvenile Cooper's and Sharp-shinned but it tends to be more prominent in juvenile Goshawks. But the tail and the upperpart patterning are what clinches it here. This is a classic example of a juvenile Goshawk, straight out of a field guide! AMAZING bird. Glad you posted. Which state was this seen (and when)? Interesting it let you come close. I have to say, though, that the adults during nesting season are notorious for attacking and injuring humans that happen upon their nesting area. This post was edited by TMFF on Sat, Oct 11, 14 at 14:24

Before this one, I'd only seen a cooper's, aside from flyovers, once since i started bird watching. It was perched on neighbors HAM radio antenna, and I was able to get a few pics of it. Before I started bird watching, I saw, what I now am pretty sure was, a cooper's hawk try to catch a blue jay that was perched in one of my crepe Myrtle trees, right in front of me, he missed though! Everything I've ever reAd about cooper's, describes them as being "uncommon" in urban areas and lists them As "forest dwelling hawks" which is what made me doubt this hawk was a cooper's, and also why I usually assume it's a red tailed when I see hawks in busy/urban areas, now I'll make sure to take a closer look! Thanks!