Frances's sparrowhawk facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Frances's sparrowhawk |
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Nominate race | |
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Accipiter
|
| Species: |
francesiae
|
| Subspecies | |
|
|
| Synonyms | |
|
Accipiter francesii |
|
Frances's sparrowhawk (Accipiter francesiae) is a small bird of prey. It's a type of hawk. These birds live on the island of Madagascar and the Comoro Islands. One special kind, the Anjouan sparrowhawk, was once thought to be gone forever. But thankfully, people found it again in the 1980s and 2005! The bird is named after Lady Frances Cole. She was the wife of a governor from the Cape Colony.
Contents
Where They Live
Frances's sparrowhawks live in Madagascar and the Comoro Islands. They like places with lots of trees. You can find them in thick forests. They also live in big gardens, parks, and even coconut farms. They prefer to stay near the edges of these wooded areas.
What They Look Like
Frances's sparrowhawks are mostly grey with a light-colored belly. They have bright orange eyes and orange feet. Their beak is black, and the part above the beak (called a cere) is yellow.
Males are usually 28 to 35 centimeters (about 11 to 14 inches) long. Females are a bit bigger, weighing 112 to 185 grams (about 4 to 6.5 ounces). Their wings can spread out to 40 to 54 centimeters (about 16 to 21 inches). The hawks from the Comoro Islands are smaller and have more reddish-brown feathers.
The Anjouan sparrowhawk looks a lot like the male Frances's sparrowhawk. But it is much smaller. It also has fewer stripes on its belly. Males have a wingspan of 135 to 149 millimeters. Their tail is 99 to 188 millimeters long. Females are larger, with a wingspan of 155 to 163 millimeters. Their tail is 113 to 125 millimeters long. Both male and female Anjouan sparrowhawks have white bellies and grey backs. Their wings are dark greyish, and their tails have dark stripes.
How They Behave
What They Eat
These hawks eat many different things. Their diet includes small mammals, other birds, lizards, and frogs. They also hunt large insects. When hunting small animals like lizards or frogs, they might knock them off trees. This stuns the prey, making it easier to catch. For flying insects and birds, they fly straight at their prey. They catch them right in the air!
Reproduction and Life Cycle
Frances's sparrowhawks build big nests out of sticks. They usually place these nests in the upper branches of large trees. The nests are often 5 to 15 meters (about 16 to 49 feet) above the ground. They change their nesting spot each year.
They usually breed from October to December. A female hawk lays 3 to 4 eggs. Each egg is about 37 by 29 millimeters in size. The eggs are usually a greyish-white color. They often have unique markings on them. On average, about 1.5 chicks survive from each clutch of eggs.
Conservation Status
Frances's sparrowhawk does not have many natural enemies. In the past, from the 1900s to the 1980s, their numbers dropped a lot. This was because of certain chemical poisons being used. After these chemicals were banned, the hawk's population slowly grew back. Today, it is thought that more than 32,000 breeding pairs live in Madagascar. Some traditional hunting still happens.
The Anjouan sparrowhawk faced big challenges in the 20th century. Too much hunting and the loss of their forest homes made them very rare. By the late 1950s, only a few were left. Scientists thought there were only 1 to 10 birds remaining.
Other types of Frances's sparrowhawk on different islands have done better. For example, on Mayotte, where there are still many lowland forests, they are common. This shows how important it is to protect their homes.
Images for kids
-
Illustration of the Anjouan subspecies from 1864
