Species: Accipiter striatus

Sharp-shinned Hawk

Species

Birds

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Terrestrial vertebrates: birds

Encyclopedia of Puget Sound

Classification

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Craniata

Class

Aves

Order

Falconiformes

Family

Accipitridae

Genus

Accipiter

NatureServe

Source:
ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.771066

Classification

Informal Taxonomy

Animals, Vertebrates - Birds - Raptors

Formal Taxonomy

Animalia - Craniata - Aves - Falconiformes - Accipitridae - Accipiter - [Brazil through southeastern South America]), but there are no published data supporting this split.

Ecology and Life History

Short General Description

A robin- to pigeon-sized woodland hawk.

Migration

true - true - true - Northern populations are migratory, usually arrive in nesting areas by April-May; southward migration occurs August-October in Canada and northern U.S. Arrives in Costa Rica by mid-October, remains until March (Stiles and Skutch 1989). High proportion of birds banded in Minnesota were recovered in Mexico and Central America in late fall-winter. See Palmer (1988) for more detail. Often aggregates during migration.

Non-migrant

true

Locally Migrant

true

Food Comments

Eats mainly small to medium-sized birds; occasionally small mammals, insects, lizards, etc. Hunts from inconspicuous perch or by stealthy flights along paths and around bushes and trees (Evans 1982). In Colorado, nestling and fledgling birds were common prey items when hawks were feeding young (Joy et al., 1994, Condor 96:455-467).

Reproduction Comments

Clutch size commonly is 4-5 (but average 2.6 in Puerto Rico). Incubation lasts 30-32 days (34-35 days also reported), mainly by female (male brings food). Young fledge at 3-4.5 weeks, independent at about 7 weeks. First breeds: usually 2 years (sometimes as yearling).

Ecology Comments

In Puerto Rico, breeding density in suitable habitat 1 individual per sq km (Delannoy and Cruz 1988); average distance between nests was 4.3 km in Oregon (see Palmer 1988).

Length

Weight

174

Conservation Status

NatureServe Global Status Rank

Global Status Last Reviewed

1996-11-22

Global Status Last Changed

1996-11-22

Distribution

Conservation Status Map

Global Range

H - 2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles) - H - BREEDS: western and central Alaska to northern Saskatchewan, southern Labrador, and Newfoundland, south to South America. NORTHERN WINTER: north to southern Alaska and southern Canada (casually). U.S. and Canadian populations winter south to Panama and West Indies. RESIDENT populations occur in Middle and South America (northwestern Venezuela, south in Andes to northern Argentina; Paraguay to southeastern Brazil, Uruguay) and Puerto Rico (AOU 1983, Sibley and Monroe 1990).

Global Range Code

Global Range Description

2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)

ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.771066