AMERICAN SPARROW HAWK (FALCO while the male of the smallest, SPARVERIUS), LIKE THE KESTREL Accipiter tinus, is about the size of a song-thrush. Arboreal in habit, they feed largely on birds which they seize in their talons with a rapid swoop.
The European sparrow-hawk (A. nisus) extends from Ireland to Japan and southward to India and North Africa. Two allied forms replace it in North America, the sharp-shinned hawk, A. fuscus, and Cooper's hawk, A. cooperi. A. tinus is South American and numerous other species occur there, in Asia, Australia, Africa, and south-east Europe. (See FALCONRY.)