Eurasian sparrow hawk

Medium to small daytime bird of prey. It has a slender body, small head, hook bill, long and thin legs like its toes, which are equipped with strong nails. It is one of the most agile of the birds of prey and easily and rapidly flies despite its short wings. Its movements are more awkward only on the ground.

• Length: over 30 cm, of which more than 10 cm are part of its long square tail (characterised by 4-5 dark bars)
• Wingspan: over 60 cm
• Plumage: in adults, it is dark ash grey in its upper parts, white with wavy lines and red/rust-coloured streaks in its lower parts. The bill is blue, and the feet and eyes are yellow.

It feeds on both birds and small mammals. Once it has captured its prey, it takes it to a peaceful place and eats it after having removed its fur or feathers as much as possible. The parts of the prey it is unable to digest are eliminated in the form of pellets.

It builds nests in recesses and cavities in walls, lays 2 eggs white in colour at a time in several successive clutches. The female broods during the day, the male during the night, for 21 days. For the first 5 days, the newborn are fed with a sort of milk coming from the parents’ crops and later with a mixture of milk and seeds. After a month the young leave the nest and after just six months are able to reproduce.

It builds the nest always well concealed on forest trees with twigs that little by little become finer moving inwards. It lays 3 to five eggs. Only the female broods (33-35 days), while both parents feed the newborns (chicks).

In Italy, the species is sedentary and common together with kestrels and buzzards; in the fall, a sizeable number of migratory individuals arrive from North Europe.