Sparrowhawk

Sparrowhawk

1. The Sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus) is a small bird of prey in the family Accipitridae which also includes many other diurnal raptors such as eagles, buzzards and harriers. 

2. The sparrowhawk is a yellow eyed hawk with short, rounded wings and a long dark striped tail.

3. It is a widespread species throughout the temperate and subtropical parts of the Old World. It is mainly resident, but birds from colder regions of north Europe and Asia migrate south for the winter, as far as North Africa and India. 

4. This species nests in trees, building a new nest each year. It hunts birds in woodland or cultivated areas, relying on surprise as it flies from a perch or hedge-hops to catch its prey unaware.

5. Sparrowhawks, like all birds of prey, create a small parcel of those parts of their prey, such as fur, bones and feathers, which they find to be indigestible. This is called a pellet. They regurgitate these and they may be found on the ground near their eating place.

6. This bird is a small raptor with short broad wings and a long tail, both adaptations to maneuvering through trees. The male is 29-34 cm long with a 59-64 cm wingspan, and is slate-grey above and barred reddish below. 

7. The male was formerly called a musket, and the gun called a musket was named after the bird. 

8. The female is much larger at 35-41 cm length and a 67-80 cm wingspan. She is barred grey below, and can be confused with the similarly sized male Goshawk, but lacks the bulk of that species. The juvenile is brown above and barred brown below. The flight is a characteristic "flap - flap - glide". 

9. The New World species formerly known as the Sparrow Hawk (Falco sparverius) is now called the American Kestrel. The new name is preferable, since this bird is not a hawk but a falcon. 

10. The Sparrowhawks are solitary birds who only come together when they want to breed during spring and early summer. The female builds a nest that is made up of both green and dry twigs, and most often placed in the branches of a conifer, close to the trunk.

11. It carries its prey to a ‘plucking post’ which is usually a fence post or tree stump. 

12. It perches there and plucks the prey before eating it. 

13. Sparrowhawks are very strong birds which can carry prey as heavy as themselves.

14. A sparrowhawk can often be spotted in the fields by the crowd of small birds that gather and mob it in an attempt to drive it away from their nests.

15. The female lays between four and six bluish white eggs specked with brown. The eggs are incubated for about 35 days before they hatch. During incubation the male supplies the female with food. Both parents feed the nestlings for three weeks to a month before they leave the nest. The nestlings require a large quantity of food, as each one will eat two or three sparrow-sized birds every day. 

16. A sparrowhawk can often be spotted in the fields by the crowd of small birds that gather and mob it in an attempt to drive it away from their nests.

17. The sparrowhawk’s main diet consists of small birds such as sparrows, starlings, thrushes, and chaffinch , although it will occasionally take mice, voles and young rabbits. When there is a shortage of food it will even eat insects such as beetles.

18. Flies with a burst of rapid wingbeats followed by a short glide.