sparrowhawk

See also: sparrow hawk

English

Alternative forms

• sparrow-hawk, sparrow hawk, sparhawk, spar-hawk

Etymology

From Middle English sparhauk, sperhauk, from Old English spearhafoc, spearhabuc (“sparrow-hawk”), from Proto-West Germanic *sparwahabuk, from Proto-Germanic *sparwahabukaz, equivalent to sparrow ‎ hawk. Cognate with Danish spurvehøg (“sparrowhawk”), Swedish sparvhök (“sparrowhawk”), Icelandic sparrhaukur (“sparrowhawk”).

Pronunciation

• Audio (US):

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Noun

sparrowhawk (plural sparrowhawks)

1. A Eurasian sparrowhawk, Accipiter nisus, a small, short-winged European hawk that preys on smaller birds.
   1. (falconry) A female such bird, a male being a musket.
2. Any of numerous other relatively small birds of Old World species of Accipiter, that prey on smaller birds or otherwise resemble A. nisus.
3. Alternative form of sparrow hawk; American kestrel, Falco sparverius, of similar size and habit.

Derived terms

terms derived from sparrowhawk

• African little sparrowhawk (Accipiter minullus)
• American sparrowhawk (Falco sparverius)
• black sparrowhawk (Accipiter melanoleucus)
• chestnut-flanked sparrowhawk (Accipiter castanilius)
• Chinese sparrowhawk (Accipiter soloensis)
• collared sparrowhawk (Accipiter cirrocephalus)
• Eurasian sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus)
• dwarf sparrowhawk (Accipiter nanus)
• Frances’s sparrowhawk (Accipiter francesiae)
• great sparrowhawk (Accipiter melanoleucus)
• Hilgert's sparrowhawk (Accipiter ovampensis)
• imitator sparrowhawk (Accipiter imitator)
• Japanese sparrowhawk (Accipiter gularis)
• Levant sparrowhawk (Accipiter brevipes)
• little sparrowhawk (Accipiter minullus)
• Madagascan sparrowhawk (Accipiter madagascariensis)
• New Britain sparrowhawk (Accipiter brachyurus)
• Nicobar sparrowhawk (Accipiter butleri)
• northern sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus)
• Ovambo sparrowhawk (Accipiter ovampensis)
• red-legged sparrowhawk (Accipiter erythropus)
• red-thighed sparrowhawk (Accipiter erythropus)
• rufous-breasted sparrowhawk (Accipiter rufiventris)
• rufous-chested sparrowhawk (Accipiter rufiventris)
• rufous-necked sparrowhawk (Accipiter erythrauchen)
• slaty-backed sparrowhawk (Accipiter luteoschistaceus)
• slaty-mantled sparrowhawk (Accipiter luteoschistaceus)
• small sparrowhawk (Accipiter nanus)
• spot-tailed sparrowhawk (Accipiter trinotatus)
• vinous-breasted sparrowhawk (Accipiter rhodogaster)
• western little sparrowhawk (Accipiter erythropus)

Translations

Eurasian sparrowhawk — see Eurasian sparrowhawk

any of many other species of Accipiter

• Catalan: esparver (ca) m
• French: épervier
• Indonesian: elang-alap
• Thai: please add this translation if you can

Further reading

• Sparrowhawk on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Eurasian sparrowhawk on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Accipiter nisus on Wikispecies.Wikispecies
• Accipiter nisus on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons
• “sparrowhawk”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.