From Opus

Photo by Medlock44

Accipiter nisus

[edit] Identification

Male

• 29-34 cm long with a 59-64 cm wingspan
• Slate-grey upperparts
• Barred reddish underparts
  

Female

• 35-41 cm length and a 67-80 cm wingspan
• Barred grey underparts
  

Juvenile brown above and barred brown below

All have a white supercillium, more noticeable in the adults

[edit] Similar Species

The female can be confused with the Northern Goshawk, which is a similar size, but has more 'bulk'

[edit] Distribution

Europe and north Africa to eastern Asia.
Europe: the most numerous and widespread Accipiter found almost throughout the region except for Iceland and the far north of Scandinavia and Russia. In the south breeds on the western Canary Islands, across North-West Africa and on Corsica, Sardinia and Sicily. Also breeds throughout Greece and Turkey (except much of the central plateau) and east to the Caspian. In the Middle East may breed regularly in Israel but rare.
Asia: Breeding in Himalayas and Siberia to eastern Asia.

Northern birds are migratory with known wintering grounds to Africa, India, Sri Lanka and Indochina. Over most of Europe this is a rather sedentary species. Winter visitor or passage migrant to much of Turkey; the Middle East and North Africa. Small numbers occur on passage at Gibraltar and the Bosphorus but much larger movements can be seen at Falsterbo. Peak periods here are mid August-mid November and April-early May.

[edit] Taxonomy

Subspecies: In mainland Europe the nominate race is present but in Madeira and on Gomera, El Hierro, La Palma and Tenerife in the Canary Islands there is the smaller and darker race granti, on Corsica and Sardinia there is another small and very dark race wolterstorffi, and the large, pale race punicus occurs in North-West Africa from central Morocco to north Tunisia. The large Siberian race nisosimilis may occur in south-east Palearctic in winter or as a vagrant to Europe but identification is difficult. Subspecies melaschistos is found in central Asian mountains and in Himalayas.

[edit] Habitat

Deciduous, mixed or coniferous woodland with adjacent open country. In recent years with decreased persecution has become commoner close to human habitation and is now moving into towns. In winter often found far from woodland, hunting along hedgerows in open farmland or in coastal areas.

[edit] Behaviour

[edit] Flight

The flight is a characteristic "flap – flap – glide".

[edit] Breeding

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.

Young female sparrowhawks disperse about twice as far from the nest as the male sparrowhawks; this is possibly an adaptation to avoid inbreeding^[1]. In Denmark, male sparrowhawks has a higher mortality than females during their first year of life, while the reverse is the case in following years.

[edit] Vocalisation

[edit] References

1. Paper in DOFT read December 2008
2. Clements, James F. 2007. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to October 2007. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. ISBN 9780801445019
3. Animal Pictures Archive

• List of references

[edit] External Links