Sharp-Shinned Hawk

The smallest of the hawks to be found in North America, the Sharp-shinned Hawk, Accipiter striatus, is also one of the most common, with groups of ten thousand often concentrated in a small area.
There are subspecies of the Sharp-shinned Hawk, the likes of the Plain-breasted Hawk; Rufous-thighed Hawk; and White-breasted Hawk; these birds though are found in South and Central America.

An incredible small hawk, the male Sharp-shinned Hawk is only 30cm long, with a wingspan of 58cm. The female is larger by a few centimetres, as with many hawks, and can weigh up to twice as much, 110g, as the male.

Sharp-Shinned Hawk - Dario Sanches - CC-BY-SA-2.0

The Sharp-shinned Hawk is often mistaken for the slightly larger Cooper’s Hawk, as they do have many of the same characteristics. The hawks are blue-grey in colouring, with some reddish barring to be found on the under parts of the birds. The hawks are broad chested, with short rounded wings. Females as well as being larger will also be browner than the male.

The tails of the Sharp-shinned Hawk are long with a square tip. The tail will be grey or black, but will have a white terminal band. The crown and back of the neck of the birds are covered in darker feathers, which makes the Sharp-shinned Hawk appear that it has a hood.

Sharp-shinned Hawks also have thin, yellow legs, and a black, hooked bill. The bill is marked though with a yellow cere, the soft swelling found on the beak.

In flight the wing beats of the Sharp-shinned Hawk are erratic, although it only take a few to give them momentum, which is followed by a short glide.

Found throughout the United States and Canada, much of the Canadian population will fly south during the winter months. Normally the Sharp-shinned Hawk is to be found in the larger expanses of woodland, but can also often be found in urban surroundings.

Cooper's Hawk vs Sharp-Shinned - Louis Agassiz Fuertes (1874–1927) - PD-life-70

The Sharp-shinned Hawk primarily feeds upon small birds, found in the woodlands or more often observed off of garden bird tables. It is though not unknown for the hawks to eat small mammals and rodents.  Due to the size of the male and female Sharp-shinned Hawk, the females will go for the larger prey.

During the breeding season the Sharp-shinned Hawk will make their nests within the densest areas of the forest, where the female will lay between four and five eggs, and incubate for four weeks. In the early weeks the youngsters are reliant on their parents for food, but this also provides the display of the parents feeding their offspring in flight.

The bird is not under any direct threat at the moment, and with regulations in place around the use of pesticide