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Male Eurasian sparrowhawks regularly kill birds weighing up to 40 g (1.4 oz) and sometimes up to 120 g (4.2 oz) or more; females can tackle prey up to 500 g (18 oz) or more. A recent study found that on average, female sparrowhawk prey were two and a half times heavier than that of the male. [43]
Sparrowhawks rely on stealth and surprise to catch their prey, hunting in flight or bursting from a concealed perch among foliage. [10] Most prey weighs less than 100 g and sometimes over 200 g. It forages by short-stay perch hunting from a concealed position in foliage, punctuated by short tree-to-tree, often undulating flights. [10]
Black sparrowhawks prey primarily on mid-sized birds. [12] Most prey is spotted from a foliage-concealed perch, which is then killed in flight during a short flying dash. Less often, they stoop or chase prey seen during low or high flight over open country or near the canopy of trees and, in some cases, may even pursue prey on foot. [ 12 ]
Sparrowhawk (sometimes sparrow hawk) may refer to several species of small hawk in the subfamily Accipitrinae. "Sparrow-hawk" or sparhawk originally referred to Accipiter nisus, now called "Eurasian" or "northern" sparrowhawk to distinguish it from other species.
Hawks are birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. They are very widely distributed and are found on all continents except Antarctica. [1] The subfamily Accipitrinae includes goshawks, sparrowhawks, sharp-shinned hawks, and others. This subfamily are mainly woodland birds with short broad wings, long tails, and high visual acuity.
Accipiter (/ æ k ˈ s ɪ p ə d ə r /) is a genus of birds of prey in the family Accipitridae. Most species are called sparrowhawks, but there are many sparrowhawks in other genera too, such as Tachyspiza. These birds are slender with short, broad, rounded wings and a long tail which helps them maneuver in flight.
Other small birds, great tits and blue tits, showed alarm and avoided attending feeders on seeing either (mounted) sparrowhawks or cuckoos; this implies that the cuckoo's hawklike appearance functions as protective mimicry, whether to reduce attacks by hawks or to make brood parasitism easier.
The sparrowhawks build large stick nests in the upper fork of large trees usually 5 - 15m from the ground. The location of the nests change from year to year and they usually breed in October to December the clutch varies from 3 - 4 eggs they measure around 37 x 29 mm but the average survival rate of the eggs is 1.5.