What was this?

[my5hens]

I was out feeding my hens late this afternoon - it was almost dark out - and this bird flew onto a tree in my yard. I looked up at it because it was watching the girls intensly like it was going to attack.
I was sure it was a hawk, but it looked skinny and it didnt have a fanned out tail like I normally see on them. It had a long skinny tail. The bird was greyish and brownish and whitish colors. The beak looked hooked but also not as severe as a hawk....but of the preditor type.
So I'm guessing it really was a hawk, or a young hawk, or something else?

I live in Southern California.

 

[Peaches Lee]

Maybe a Falcon?

 

[Frankallen]

Hawks don't hunt at nite....but Owls do???

 

[RedIII]

It still could have been a hawk. Some hawks are nocturnal. The tail may also have just been closed if it was perching in the tree. I've noticed that a lot of hawks appear to have a long and skinny tail when it's not being used for flight.

 

[sourland]

Long skinny tail is typical of a Cooper's hawk - approximately crow sized bird but generally somewhat slimmer. Death on small to medium sized chickens and if hungry enough they will attack standard sized birds.