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.

Thanks for the feedback. I was sitting at my kitchen table when I heard the birds call out and scatter in every direction. I was able to take pictures through my kitchen window of the hawk as he narrowed in on his prey. One of the cardinals hit the window and landed underneath the deck furniture.

Is the top one a red shouldered then? Has markings similar to a juvenile Mississippi Kite, but feet look too large? Thanks Bill, really do appreciate the help!! Jacque

Luc I think you may be right. I think I saw a mature Cooper's Hawk Sunday. I studied it, but studied the wrong things. It had a dark back & head with dark cheeks. The pictures in my guides show this cheek only on the Cooper's. Because of the branches I wasn't able to tell if the end of the tail was rounded or not just that it was clearly striped. And it was quite large, much larger than a blue jay. So do you think it was Cooper or Sharp-shinned?