Sparrowhawk

"Acciptor nisus"

work in progress

The Sparrowhawk of the kites, hawk, and eagles family is a small bird of prey and are adapted to hunting in confined spaces.The male has a bluish/grey back and orange brown bars on its chest whereas the females are predominantly brown. They have yellow/orange eyes and yellow legs. The female is larger than the male.

They eat small birds with the female managing up to a pigeon and the male will go for a thrush sized bird.

They are 28 to 39cm in length

They have an average wingspan of 55 to 70cm

They weigh in at between 110 to 195g for a male

and 185 to 340g for a female.

There are around 35,000 breeding pairs in the uk.

You will see them in woodland and maybe they will visit your garden to take small birds from feeders.

They are seen everywhere in the uk

except for some parts of Scotland.