Sparrowhawk, Levant

Conservation status:

Vagrant

Description:

Similar to Eursian Sparrowhawk in plumage, but longer, narrower, less curved wings have more pointed tip, giving falcon-like appearance when gliding (separating also from blunt-winged Sparrowhawk). Male dull blue-grey above with blackish wing-tip and plain central tail-feathers; female browner, less contrasting and closed uppertail has dark band near tip. From below, male has white underwing with contrasting black tip, extending to inner primaries; female less white, less contrasting. When perched, black throat-streak, greyish cheeks but no supercilium separates from Sparrowhawk. Juvenile dark grey-brown above with closed tail banded throughout (sometimes indistinct); underparts with dark longitudinal spots and dark throat-streak. Always told from Sparrowhawk by shape of wing-tip (4 free outermost primaries against 5 in Sparrowhawk), and often by more rounded tail-corners; adult female has dark outermost primaries (absent Sparrowhawk) and lacks female Sparrowhawk’s fully banded central tail-feathers above. Flight typical Accipiter. Unlike Sparrowhawk, forms dense flocks on migration.