Juvenile Sharp-Shinned Hawk

A juvenile Sharp-Shinned Hawk in warm light in it's natural habitat.... more

by Betty Denise

Title

Juvenile Sharp-Shinned Hawk

Artist

Betty Denise

Medium

Photograph - Giclee On Paper

Description

A juvenile Sharp-Shinned Hawk in warm light in it's natural habitat.

SIZE AND SHAPE
Sharp-shinned Hawks are small, long-tailed hawks with short, rounded wings. They have small heads that in flight do not always project beyond the “wrists” of the wings. The tail tends to be square-tipped and may show a notch at the tip. Females are considerably larger than males.

COLOR PATTERN
Adults are slaty blue-gray above, with narrow, horizontal red-orange bars on the breast. Immature birds are mostly brown, with coarse vertical streaks on white underparts. Adults and young have broad dark bands across their long tails.

BEHAVIOR
Sharp-shinned Hawks are agile fliers that speed through dense woods to surprise their prey, typically songbirds. They do not stoop on prey from high overhead. They may also pounce from low perches. When flying across open areas they have a distinctive flap-and-glide flight style.

HABITAT
Sharp-shinned Hawks breed in deep forests. During migration, look for them in open habitats or high in the sky, migrating along ridge lines. During the non-breeding season they hunt small birds and mammals along forest edges and sometimes at backyard bird feeders, causing a wave of high-pitched alarm calls among the gathered songbirds.

SONGS
The Sharp-shinned Hawk has no true song, but males and females vocalize to each other during courtship with a plaintive squeal or a series of excited kik-kik-kik calls. Because they are smaller, males tend to have higher voices than females. Mated pairs call to each other during the breeding season, making nesting the noisiest time for this usually silent bird.

CALLS
The Sharp-shinned Hawk’s typical call is a high-pitched, frantic kik-kik-kik. It’s used as an alarm call, during courtship, and by young birds just before they fledge. Nestlings and brooding females give a thin, high-pitched call to beg for food when the male brings prey to the nest.

(https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Sharp-shinned_Hawk/id)

Uploaded

February 20th, 2018