- Accipiter virgatus
Identification
Photo © by robby thai
Mae Wong River, Mae Wong National Park, Thailand, 12 May, 2015
24–36 cm (9½-14¼ in)
- Ashy blue-grey upperparts
- White below crossed barred with rusty brown
- Dark vertical throat stripe
- Short broad wings
- Long tail; broadly barred black
Female is larger and has browner upperparts
Juvenile: dark brown upperparts. White underparts, streaked breast and belly, barred flanks. Long tail, broadly barred black
Distribution
South Asia from Pakistan and India to south China and Indonesia.
Taxonomy
Besra , Japanese Sparrowhawk and Brown Goshawk seem to be closely related. The first two have in the past been considered conspecific.
Subspecies
10 subspecies are recognized[1]:
- A. v. affinis:
- A. v. fuscipectus:
- Mountains of Taiwan
- A. v. besra:
- A. v. abdulalii:
- A. v. confusus:
- Philippines (Luzon, Mindoro, Negros and Catanduanes)
- A. v. quagga:
- Philippines (Cebu, Bohol, Leyte, Samar, Siquijor and Mindanao)
- A. v. rufotibialis:
- Northern Borneo
- A. v. vanbemmeli:
- A. v. virgatus:
- A. v. quinquefasciatus:
- Flores (Lesser Sundas)
The name nisoides was seemingly retracted by the author who considered the bird he had described it from as belonging to Japanese Sparrowhawk.
Habitat
Dense montane forests; in winter open woodland (preferably with large trees) including groves, savanna and cultivated areas.
Behaviour
Breeding
They nest in trees, building a new nest each year. The clutch consists of 2-5 eggs.
Diet
Their diet consists mostly of birds with the addition of dragonflies, lizards and mammals.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2021. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2021. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- AvianWeb
- Birdforum Member observations
- Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved September 2016)
- Orta, J. and J. S. Marks (2020). Japanese Sparrowhawk (Accipiter gularis), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.japspa1.01
- Farnsworth, G., G. A. Londono, J. U. Martin, K. C. Derrickson, and R. Breitwisch (2020). Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (A. F. Poole, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.normoc.01
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Besra. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 1 September 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Besra
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.