Sharp-shinned Hawk

Accipiter striatus

Audubon Illustration

John James Audubon, Birds of America (1827-1838). Public domain.

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About the Sharp-shinned Hawk

The sharp-shinned hawk (Accipiter striatus) or northern sharp-shinned hawk, colloquially often nicknamed sharpie, is a small hawk, with males being the smallest hawks in the United States and Canada, but with the species averaging larger than some Neotropical species, such as the tiny hawk. The taxonomy is far from resolved, with some authorities considering the southern taxa to represent three separate species, white-breasted hawk (A. chionogaster), plain-breasted hawk (A. ventralis), and rufous-thighed hawk (A. erythronemius). The American Ornithological Society and some other checklists keep all four species conspecific.

Source: Wikipedia

Classification

Scientific name: Accipiter striatus
Family: Hawks, Eagles, and Kites
Order: Accipitriformes

Similar species

Other members of the hawks, eagles, and kites family recorded in North America — a useful place to start if you are not certain of your identification.

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