Sparrowhawk birds
The Sparrowhawk is a bird of prey from the hawk family, which is widespread throughout almost the entire territory of the Eurasian continent.
Sparrowhawk
Geographic distribution
A few decades ago, the population of sparrowhawks was declining due to the active introduction of agricultural pesticides into human activity and hunting for these birds. However, today, with the widespread ban on the use of pesticides and the exclusion of sparrowhawks from the number of birds harmful to humans and the economy, with the cessation of hunting for the sparrowhawk, their number is gradually increasing today.
The habitat of the sparrowhawk is the forests of temperate and subtropical zones, and not deep places, but open zones. They prefer coniferous and deciduous forests, they can settle in the mountains at an altitude of 2.5 km above sea level.
During their migration from the cold European climate, Sparrowhawks move to the southeast direction of Asia or to the northern part of Africa. In Russia, sparrowhawks can be seen in the Ural River valley.
In total, the sparrowhawk family has 6 subspecies, each of which lives in different regions.
- Partially birds of the first species (nisus) are distributed in the European territory from the Asian west to the Siberian territories and in the region of Iran. These northern representatives migrate for the winter to the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, in a northeastern direction to Africa, as well as to Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.
- The second subspecies (nisosimilis) is observed starting from the Siberian central and eastern regions up to Kamchatka and covering the Japanese territory. It spreads from the south towards the north along the Chinese area. These sparrowhawks migrate eastward to Asia, Korea and Japan. Some individuals fly to African countries.
- The third subspecies (melaschistos) is recorded in the mountainous region of Afghanistan and the Himalayas, in the south of Tibet and in the west of China.
- The fourth subspecies (wolterstorffi) is distributed in Corsica and is found in the regions of Sardinia.
- Representatives of the fifth subspecies (granti) are observed in the Canary Islands and in the side of the Madeira island.
- The sixth species (punicus) chose the African northwest and northern Sahara as its habitat.
Typical signs
The lesser hawk is a half-sized copy of the usual large hawk representative, and its description is similar to it in both plumage color and behavior. Small predators, both males and females, are colored dark gray, but in some individuals, the color of the plumage often acquires a blue tint. The bottom of the body of the birds is decorated with pale gray stripes and shaded with red, which creates a deceptive external impression of a red plumage.
The description of the sparrowhawks indicates their small size. Adult male birds reach lengths ranging from 30 to 35 cm with a wingspan of 60-65 cm.
Sparrowhawk females are twice as large as males, often exceeding the length by 25%.
Sparrowhawk females grow in the range from 35 to 41 cm, and in a wingspan the length is up to 80 cm.The average weight of these birds is 185-345 g.
Short and wide wings, together with a long tail, help birds to maneuver between forest trees.
In both the young generation and in an adult bird, a white speck of various shapes can often be seen in the nape of the neck.
Not to be confused by the photo of a sparrowhawk with a goshawk, which it looks very similar to, allows the appearance of the tail: in the sparrowhawk it is longer, narrow at the base, and at the end it is directly cut off, without rounding.
Behavioral features
As such, the voice from the sparrowhawk cannot be heard. It is capable of producing only fast sounds like three-fold repetitive "kick", which makes it extremely rarely, often the voice is heard only when there is a danger to the bird itself or its chicks.
Among the main prey for hunting sparrowhawks are small and medium-sized birds, among which there are insectivores. There are quite a lot of titmice, blackbirds, and larks in their forage. Among the largest prey for them are pigeons. In addition to birds, hawks are able to catch and feed on small animals when hunting.
Common sparrows often become prey for sparrowhawks living within the city limits, therefore they are often called sparrows.
Among bird watchers, the hawk is distinguished by its ability to desperately defend its nests and chicks from many predators larger than themselves. At the same time, when a person appears next to a tray with a chick, the female is able to rush at the troublemaker, flying around and attacking from behind, pecking right in the back of the head. At the same time, her attacks will be continuous until the alien dangerous for her leaves the location of the nest.
In fast and maneuverable flight, Sparrowhawks alternate flapping and sliding, and they rarely resort to hovering in the air.
Principles of nesting and reproduction
Sparrowhawks are migratory representatives of the bird family. These birds begin nesting process quite late, around May, sometimes a little later.
They build a nest in the branches of coniferous or deciduous trees at a height of approximately 2-10 m from the surface of the earth. At the same time, it turns out to be loose and randomly folded, thin and translucent, but deep enough, with a diameter of about 38-40 cm and a similar height.
If the sparrowhawk is not disturbed, then its nest for the next year of nesting can be found in the same place or no further than 100-200 m from it. However, it will be completely new.
The material for the nest is coniferous branches, sometimes tree bark and dried grass are used without the use of fresh branches, which distinguishes these birds from other hawk species.
The nest of the sparrowhawk is easy to find by the particles of used prey left by them - the remains of birds that they ate themselves and fed the chick.
The brood of the female has 3-4 chicks in number, sometimes up to 6. Eggs with a dull white shell, covered with ocher or brown spots of various sizes and shapes. The size of each egg varies between 3.7-4.3 / 3.0-3.3 cm.
The incubation period in sparrowhawks lasts for about 30-32 days, and by the end of June or the beginning of July, chicks appear, which by the second half of August take their wings.