Describing what a hawk looks like, let's start with the fact that it is a warlike bird of prey, which is associated with physical strength, dexterity and noble beauty. A keen eye, a powerful body and strong wings made this bird an unsurpassed hunter, able to quickly and accurately track down his prey, wherever it is. In this article we will tell you what kind of lifestyle this unique bird leads, about the features of its behavior and varieties.

general description

The hawk belongs to the subclass of the neopalates, the hawk-like order, the hawk family. There are several versions of the origin of the name of this bird. The first is related to his agility and speed in flight from the stem of the word astr. Literally, the term translates as "a bird with a sharp look, flying fast." Another version is based on the variegated colors of the bird's plumage.

Hawks are 100% predators. But their size relative to other carnivorous birds is small. The goshawk is the largest species. Its weight is one and a half kilograms, and the body length does not exceed 70 cm. As for the other variety - the sparrowhawk - its dimensions are much more modest. The weight of the bird is only 120 grams, and its body length is 30 cm.

There is always plumage on the head and legs of hawks. The beak is typical for predators: short, powerful and bent to the bottom. The eyes of birds are predominantly orange or yellow, with occasional reddish hues. The visual acuity of these birds is impressive. According to its indicators, it exceeds human vigilance eight times.

Distinctive features

In addition to excellent vision, birds also have a keen sense of smell. They unmistakably distinguish fresh from rotten meat and will never eat a spoiled, stale piece.

The hawk inhales smells not with the nostrils, but with the mouth. Therefore, a bird living in captivity, having received the missing meat, will certainly refuse it and throw it away.

Plumage color varies from brown to dark gray. Feathers have a transverse color, which gives the effect of variegation. There are also hawks with plain light or white plumage. Such individuals are found in Kamchatka and in the North-East of our country.

Feathered paws are muscular and powerful. Dense, sharp claws help the hawk securely fix prey and hold steady on branches. The wings are short, blunt in shape. Their length in relation to the body is relatively small. The exception is singing species. The tail of the bird is wide, long, without points.

Such characteristic features allow the predator to easily maneuver on the hunt between branches and easily overcome obstacles.

The life expectancy of hawks is 15-17 years.

Species and their habitats

There are 47 species of hawks. Among them:

• white;
• light coloured;
• steppe;
• red;
• small;
• crested and others.

The most common of these are goshawks and sparrowhawks.

Small or Sparrowhawks include six subspecies. These birds of prey live in Western Europe, as well as in northern Africa to the Pacific Ocean.

The main population of sparrowhawks has been recorded on the Scandinavian Peninsula and in Russia. They are met in the forests, where they build a new nest every year on the branches of coniferous trees. Birds living in the Eastern Hemisphere of the planet fly away for the winter to Asian countries. Their relatives from the Western Hemisphere, go to Mexico;

Goshawks lead a sedentary lifestyle. They live in tropical jungles, savannahs and other open areas. This variety of hawk shows an undulating trajectory in flight.

Similarities and differences

Consider the similarities and differences between the main types of hawks.

The goshawk has an impressive body weight. The plumage color of females is darker than that of males. It varies from brown to dark grey. The chest, throat and belly are pockmarked, several tones lighter than the rest of the body. From afar, goshawks resemble large female sparrowhawks. They are distinguished by the shape of the tail. The sparrowhawk opens its tail like a fan, while its congener has a rounded end.

Other birds of prey can be distinguished from the hawk by a number of features. For example, the falcon has a sickle-shaped wings, a different structure of the beak and eyes. Even in the air, falcons move in a completely different way ..

Differences with the kite: the kite's weaker legs, its pointed tail, long wings and elongated beak.

Differences between a hawk and an eagle: the weight and body length of the eagle is greater, its wings and tail are longer.

Food preferences

All species of hawks are forest hunters and meat-eaters. Since their daily diet includes meat, their victims in the wild are:

• small and large birds;
• frogs;
• the bats;
• chickens, chickens;
• young rabbits and hares;
• fish;
• snakes;
• big insects.

It happens that the hawk attacks prey, which in its dimensions exceeds the hunter himself.

The hawk watches for the object, after which it abruptly and unexpectedly makes an attack. Powerful and tenacious paws capture the victim, both on the ground and on the fly in the air. The predator kills the prey by squeezing it with its paws, and then cutting it with sharp claws.

Despite the obvious advantages, the hawk also has enemies who are able to turn it into their own food. These are martens, foxes and other carnivorous mammals.

Reproduction and offspring

Hawks are monogamous birds. These birds choose a partner for themselves and form a couple for life. When they take up building a nest, they do it thoroughly. The arrangement of the nest is made one and a half to two months before the start of mating. As a nesting place, hawks choose branches of coniferous or deciduous trees.

Eggs are laid once a year. Their number varies from two to six in one clutch. While the female is incubating, the male takes on the role of breadwinner and guardian. He brings food to the nest and the next two weeks after the appearance of offspring. The female feeds the chicks. During this period, she molts. In the male, the process begins after the cubs finally leave the nest. The change of feathers does not affect the flight ability of birds.

Grown up babies live with their parents for up to two months. After the young hawks get stronger, they fly away, leaving their parental home forever.

Hawks in captivity

These predators are not accustomed to life in the city. Therefore, staying indoors (aviary, cage) causes severe stress in hawks. In general, keeping a wild bird of prey at home is a complex and ambiguous process.

The hawk needs a lot of space and the ability to keep hunting. It is worth considering that the pet, even being tame, will not give up its gastronomic habits. He will still need fresh meat, which cannot be bought in a regular supermarket.

The diet of a domesticated hawk includes live rodents. They are sold in specialized pet stores.

Goshawk chicks require special food. So, a two-week-old baby eats the carcasses of sparrows, pigeons, rooks and crows. Meat before feeding is lightly sprinkled with saline, bought at a pharmacy. The nutritional norm for a chick is one or two sparrow carcasses per day. Cubs are fed only during daylight hours.

Home maintenance and health

The owner, who does not follow the rules for feeding his formidable pet, risks his health and life. Some people believe that meat bought from a store or a bazaar will suit a hawk. This mistake leads to a violation of the bird's digestion, a lack of valuable substances and a weakened immune system. As a result, there is a loss of feathers, including the main ones, intestinal dysbacteriosis, apathy and a decrease in activity up to a complete refusal of food. The use of minced meat prepared from lean meats is permissible only during the first month.

A hawk in captivity experiences great discomfort. For this reason, it is recommended to force-feed her. The meat is brought directly to the beak, gently opening it with your hands. The food is then slowly pushed down the throat. The main thing is that the pet does not bite the feeder and does not choke on food. After a couple of days, the feathered one will adapt to the new conditions and there will be no problems with feeding. Otherwise, you will need to consult a veterinarian.

Hummingbird nests are found in the wild near hawk nesting sites. This bird is not of interest to them, while the proximity to a strong predator protects the fragile bird from its enemies: jays and squirrels.

An adult and strengthened hawk that has flown out of the nest, his parents, when trying to approach, will be considered a stranger and driven away.

The soaring flight of the hawk is graceful and beautiful, despite the relatively short wings.

The hawk is ruthless. When hunting, he destroys all the targets he sees.

In ancient Egypt and the Old World of the Middle Ages, the deliberate killing of a hawk was equated with a criminal offense.

Harm and benefit

Hawks are considered birds that do more harm than good. They hunt domestic birds, destroy chicks, domestic rabbits and hares. For this, in Russia and Europe several centuries ago they were massively exterminated. For the capture and murder of "criminals" even a monetary reward was supposed. Such events on the territory of our country ceased only in the middle of the last century. It turned out that the imbalance led to a distortion of the situation in the ecosystem: with the destruction of birds of prey, the populations of birds and animals that became their victims began to disappear.

It is known from history that hawks have long been considered an invariable attribute of hunting, where they brought even large prey to their owners. They were valued at the royal court for their dexterity, sharp eyesight, and ability for strategic maneuvers.

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Kira Stoletova

The Sparrowhawk is a bird of prey from the hawk family, distributed throughout almost the entire territory of the Eurasian continent.

Geographic distribution

A few decades ago, the population of sparrowhawks was declining due to the active introduction of agricultural pesticides into human activities and the hunting of these birds. However, today, with the widespread ban on the use of pesticides and the exclusion of sparrowhawks from the number of birds harmful to humans and farming, with the cessation of hunting for the sparrowhawk, their numbers are gradually increasing today.

The habitat of the sparrow hawk is the forests of temperate and subtropical zones, and not deep places, but open zones. They prefer coniferous and deciduous forests, can settle in the mountains at an altitude of up to 2.5 km above sea level.

During migration from the cold European climate, sparrowhawks move to the southeast direction of Asia or to the northern part of Africa. In Russia, sparrowhawks can be seen in the Ural River valley.

In total, the sparrowhawk family has 6 subspecies, each of which lives in different regions.

1. Partially, birds of the first species (nisus) are distributed in European territory right from the Asian west to the Siberian regions and in the region of Iran. These northern representatives migrate for wintering to the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, in a northeasterly direction towards Africa, as well as towards Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.
2. The second subspecies (nisosimilis) is observed starting from the Siberian central and eastern regions up to Kamchatka and covering Japanese territory. It spreads from south to north across China Square. The migration of these sparrowhawks is eastward to Asia, Korea and Japan. Some individuals fly to African countries.
3. The third subspecies (melaschistos) is fixed in the mountainous region of Afghanistan and the Himalayas, in the south of Tibet and in the west of China.
4. The fourth subspecies (wolterstorffi) is distributed in Corsica and is found in areas of Sardinia.
5. Representatives of the fifth subspecies (granti) are observed in the Canary Islands and towards the island of Madeira.
6. The sixth species (punicus) has chosen the African northwest and the northern part of the Sahara as its habitat.

Typical features

The lesser hawk is a two times smaller copy of the usual large hawk representative, and its description is similar to it both in plumage color and in behavior. Small predators, both males and females, are painted in a dark gray color, but in some individuals the plumage color often acquires a blue tint. From below, the body of the birds is decorated with pale gray stripes and tinted with red, which creates a deceptive external impression of a red plumage color.

The description of sparrowhawks indicates their small size. Adult male birds reach lengths ranging from 30 to 35 cm with a wingspan of 60-65 cm.

Female sparrowhawks are twice as large as males, often exceeding length by 25%.

Female sparrowhawks grow in the range from 35 to 41 cm, and in the wingspan the length is up to 80 cm. The average weight of these birds is 185-345 g.

Short and wide wings, together with a long tail, help the birds to maneuver between forest trees.

Both in the younger generation and in adult birds, it is not uncommon to see a white spot of various shapes in the nape area.

Not to be confused in the photo of a sparrow hawk with a goshawk, to which it looks very similar, allows the appearance of the tail: the sparrow hawk is longer, narrow at the base, and cut off straight at the end, without rounding.

Behavioral features

As such, the voice of the sparrowhawk is not heard. He is able to make only fast sounds like three times repeated “kick”, which he does extremely rarely, often his voice is heard only when there is a danger to the bird itself or its chicks.

Among the main hunting prey for sparrowhawks are small and medium-sized birds, among which there are also insectivores. They have a lot of titmouses, thrushes, and larks in the feed diet. Among the largest prey for them are pigeons. In addition to birds, hawks are capable of catching and eating small animals when hunting.

Ordinary sparrows often become the prey of sparrowhawks living within the city limits, therefore they are often called sparrows.

Among ornithologists, the hawk is distinguished by its ability to fiercely defend its nests and chicks from many predators larger than themselves. At the same time, when a person appears next to the tray with a chick, the female is able to rush at the troublemaker, flying around and attacking from behind, pecking right at the back of the head. At the same time, her attacks will be continuous until the alien dangerous for her leaves the location of the nest.

In fast and maneuverable flight, sparrowhawks alternate between flapping and gliding, and they rarely resort to soaring in mid-air.

If the sparrowhawk is not disturbed, then its nest for the next nesting year can be found in the same place or no further than 100-200 m from it. However, it will be completely new.

Coniferous branches serve as nest material, sometimes tree bark and dried grasses are used without the use of fresh branches, which distinguishes these birds from other hawk species.

The nest of a sparrowhawk is easy to detect by the particles of prey they left behind - the remains of birds that they ate themselves and fed the chick.

The brood of the female has 3-4 chicks, sometimes up to 6. Eggs with a matte white shell, covered with ocher or brown spots of various sizes and shapes. The size of each egg varies between 3.7-4.3 / 3.0-3.3 cm.

The incubation period for sparrowhawks lasts for about 30-32 days, and by the end of June or the beginning of July, chicks appear, which by the second half of August fledge.

Have you ever observed how a flock of crows or jackdaws with noise and din drives one bird, not exceeding in size themselves. This bird, fleeing from pursuers, is none other than the sparrowhawk, a predator from the hawk family. During periods of autumn migrations, hawks become numerous even in cities. It is easy to recognize the sparrowhawk by its slender silhouette, long tail extended backwards and short, wide wings.

The hawk is not embarrassed by the commotion in the bird flock, it flies away slowly, often changing direction suddenly, turning over in the air, grabs one of the pursuers, which adds panic and noise. The diet of the sparrow hawk is made up of small birds. Smaller males catch sparrow-sized birds (goldfinches, tits, buntings, warblers, wrens, kinglets, etc.), large females take larger prey (pigeons, starlings, thrushes, jackdaws, woodpeckers, etc.).

A THUNDER OF SPARROWS AND TITTS

The sparrowhawk hunts, hiding in thickets of bushes or on tree branches. He waits for the appearance of the victim and with lightning speed rushes at her. Often a predator flies low above the ground, deftly maneuvering between bushes and trees, and pursues the prey until it catches it. He can grab prey in flight, or he can catch it calmly sitting on a branch. The sparrowhawk flies up quickly and silently, so that the victim does not even have time to understand anything. He even steals tits from feeders and sparrows near the bus stop, not at all embarrassed by the presence of people nearby.

It is common for hawks to pluck prey before killing it, but if someone frightens it, then it can leave the unfortunate bird. According to the remnants of the meal, it can be determined that a sparrow hawk visited here. He plucks his prey, as a rule, on a small elevation, perch (stump or log), and very rarely on the ground or snow, leaving a bunch of feathers, paws, bones, beak and front part of the bird's skull at the feast site. After a meal, the hawk regurgitates compressed undigested parts of the prey (bones, feathers, wool) - scientists call them a pellet. The average size of a sparrowhawk pellet is 3.6 x 1.8 cm. The small hawk, as this species is also called, eats 80-120 g per day - this is about 2-4 birds the size of a sparrow. In winter, he needs a little more food.

Hunting for various birds and animals, hawks sometimes become the prey of a larger predator themselves. A marten can catch a sleeping bird at night, and a goshawk can catch it during the day.

RAPID AND SILENT

Sparrowhawk is a cautious and silent bird. It glides over trees, bushes, or low above the ground along buildings, looking for prey. Occasionally you can hear his abrupt cry "kick-kick-kick". During the mating season, he screams more often. The hawk has a truly eagle gaze: its eyes are large, about 1% of body weight, directed forward, which provides a large field of binocular vision. Visual acuity exceeds human about eight times.

The sparrowhawk settles on forest edges, in groves and copses. In the mountains, it climbs to a height of up to 2000 m, but within the forest zone. In winter, it can be seen in city parks and squares. The hawk is distributed in Europe from to, in Western Siberia to the Yenisei basin, in winter it is found in Central Asia, North Africa. In winter, sparrowhawks become especially numerous in the Crimea and the Caucasus. In the south, these birds nest everywhere, except for treeless areas. For example, they are not in the steppe part of Turkestan and. The northern border of the range passes in Lapland (at about 69 ° north latitude), near Arkhangelsk along the Pechora, then approximately at the Arctic Circle.

SOCKETS TO CHOOSE

Birds are ready to breed already at the age of one or even a little earlier. Sparrowhawk nesting sites are permanent and have been used for many years in a row. A pair may have several nests, which it uses alternately in different years. The hawk's nest is a small (about 35-40 cm in diameter), loose and careless building made of branches. The tray is quite deep, since the edges of the nest are raised, the lining is made of thinner veto-checks and needles. The nest is most often located in a fork of a spruce or pine, less often a birch or aspen, at a height of 2 to 8 m. The pair builds it together. Quite often, the sparrowhawk occupies the old pigeon nests. Birds lay their eggs quite late, in late April - early May. The clutch consists of 3-6, rarely 2-7, dull white, with dark brown spots and specks of eggs 40 x 32 mm in size. If for some reason the first clutch dies, then the birds lay their eggs again. Only the female incubates them; she sits tightly in the nest for 32-35 days.

DIFFICULTIES OF TENDER AGE

Incubation begins with the first egg, so the chicks are of different ages. They appear in late June - early July. Until the age of ten days, the chicks depend on external heating, and the mother stays with them all the time. At this time, she cannot hunt, and the male brings food to the nest. He gives her prey, and she is already feeding the chicks. In the event of the death of the female, her partner continues to bring food to the nest, but he is not adapted to feed the chicks, but simply throws the dead birds to them. If the chicks have not yet learned how to tear the prey, then they die of hunger surrounded by food. After the chicks establish their own thermoregulation, the female also begins to fly out to hunt. Chicks eat a lot - they need energy for growth and development. During this period, sparrowhawks catch much more prey than in non-breeding ones - from 10 to 15 birds, depending on the number of chicks in the brood. Moreover, at this time, the sparrowhawk does not hunt near the nest, but flies away for 4-5 km.

BEFORE MIGRATION

A month later, the grown chicks, with still inferior flight and tail feathers of the wings, crawl out of the nest and sit down near it. They learn to fly only at the age of five weeks. The development of females is faster than males. After another two weeks, the chicks fly away from the nest and begin to hunt on their own. Adult birds molt after the end of nesting: they start with wing feathers and end with the covering plumage of the body. This process takes 2.5 months for females, and 3 months for males. In September-October, birds from the northern regions begin migrating south. The average speed of hawks during flights is 40 km / h. In the middle lane, sparrowhawks often winter in cities.

Sparrowhawks have a so-called self-regulation of the population size, a phenomenon that is also characteristic of other birds of prey. In unfavorable years, when there is little food, the couple feeds no more than two chicks. Younger chicks simply do not get food, and they die in the first days of life.

Sparrowhawks are quite difficult to tame, and they are practically not used in falconry. Writer A. Green once tamed a hawk chick and named it Gul-Gul. The bird was never able to get its own food and died, released into the wild. Green captured the image of his feathered friend in the unfinished novel "Touchless" and the story "The Story of a Hawk".

a brief description of

Class: birds.
Order: falconiformes, or diurnal birds of prey.
Family: hawks.
Genus: true hawks.
Species: Sparrowhawk, or Lesser Hawk.
Latin name: accipiter nisus.
Size: body length - 35-40 cm, wingspan - 64 cm.
Weight: 100-340 g.
Coloration: dark gray, sometimes with a bluish tinge, the lower part of the body is light, with narrow chestnut or red small stripes.
Sparrowhawk Lifespan: 5-8 years.

Sparrowhawk bird of prey, small in size, belongs to the hawk family. Sparrowhawk lives in North America, North Africa, Asia and Europe. Sparrowhawk like all hawks, it has broad, short wings, strong clawed feet, and a long tail that helps it maneuver among tree trunks.

The male sparrow hawk is about a quarter smaller than the female, and has a body size of 28 to 34 centimeters, a wingspan of 59 to 64 centimeters, and a weight of 130-150 grams. The color of the male is dark gray, some individuals may acquire a bluish tint.

The lower body of the male has pale gray stripes with a reddish tinge. If you look from the side, it seems that the bird has a red color. The eyes of the hawk are orange-yellow or reddish-orange.

The female sparrow hawk is larger than the male and has a body size of 35 to 41 centimeters and a wingspan of 67 to 80 centimeters, the weight of the female ranges from 186 to 345 grams. The top of the female is colored dark brown or grayish brown, the lower part of the body is colored red-brown, the eyes are light yellow.

Sparrowhawk as a species has three more subspecies. leads a sedentary lifestyle, starts nesting in May, makes a loose nest from branches that are laid out randomly. Nesting place in river valleys, forest edges, roads.

Nests in the same area, but builds a new nest. The diameter of the nest has dimensions from 38 to 40 centimeters, the depth is from 10 to 35 centimeters. The nest is made on tall trees up to 18 meters, the height of the nest from the ground is from 3 to 15 meters.

In May, the female lays 4 to 6 eggs. Eggs are dull-pale in color with ocher or dark brown spots and measure (37-43) x (30-33) mm. The eggs are incubated by the female while the male carries food. After about 32 days, at the end of June beginning of July, chicks appear in the nest, which can fly in a month.

For fast and good growth and for all the chicks to be healthy, parents bring about 10 birds a day. When the chicks are about a month old, they begin to move from the nest to other branches, returning to the nest only to spend the night. A month later, the chicks completely leave the nest. After leaving the nest, young chicks stay together for about three weeks, as a brood.

The hawk feeds on birds such as sparrows, tits, pigeons, partridges, crows, hazel grouse, insects. During the hunt, prey grabs on the fly, rushes at it with folded wings and pursues until it catches. When chasing other birds, it is not distracted, it can turn over in the air and grab prey from below, it can pursue prey on foot on the ground.

To maintain vitality, a hawk needs to catch two birds a day. The sparrow hawk first plucks the caught prey and then carries it to the nest, but in cold weather it tears the prey right on the snow and eats it there.

The hawk is a bird of prey, which belongs to the subclass of the new-palatine, the hawk-like order, the hawk family (Accipitridae).

According to one version, the hawk got its name due to the speed of flight or gaze, since the stem "astr" means "fast, sharp, impetuous." Some scholars translate the hawk literally as "a bird with a sharp eye or swift, swift flight." According to another version, the name is associated with the bird's diet: jastь "eats" and rębъ "partridge", that is, eating partridges. It is possible that its color is mentioned in the name of the bird, since rębъ can be translated as “speckled, motley”.

Types of hawks, photos and names

Below is a brief description of several hawk species.

• Goshawk ( he is big hawk)(accipiter gentilis)

It belongs to the genus of true hawks and is the largest representative of its kind. The weight of the bird varies from 700 g to 1.5 kg. The body length of the hawk is 52-68 cm, and the wing length is 30-38 cm. Females are larger than males. For its large size, the bird is also called a large hawk. The feathers of the goshawk are shortish, slightly rounded. The tail is long and also rounded. The plumage of adult birds from above has a grayish-brown or gray-brown color. Below the body is light with transverse brown stripes. Undertail white. The hawk's head is darker. White feathers located above the eyes set off the superciliary ridge that protects the eyes and looks like an eyebrow. The plumage of females is darker than that of males. Young goshawks are brown above with buffy and whitish spots. Their abdomen is light or buffy with dark longitudinal streaks. Among the goshawks living in the northeastern regions of Siberia and Kamchatka, there are completely white hawks, some of them may have grayish spots on the back and abdomen. The claws of the bird are black, the paws and the cere are yellow, the beak is blue-brown with a black tip, the iris is yellow-orange, it may have a reddish tint.

The goshawk inhabits North America, Europe, North and Central Asia, Russia. On the African continent, it is found in Morocco.

• African goshawk(accipiter tachiro)

Representative of the genus of true hawks. It is a hardy bird with strong paws and claws. The length of her body reaches 36-39 cm. Females are noticeably larger than males. The weight of males is 150-340 g, females - 270-510 g. The back of the African goshawk is gray, in males it is darker than in females. The tail feathers and tail are gray-brown with white stripes. The chest and abdomen are light with reddish-brown streaks. Undertail is white. Legs and eyes are yellow. The cere is greenish gray.

The habitat of the African goshawk includes the central, eastern and southern regions of Africa. The bird lives in the mountains, in the lowlands, in parks and plantations, and is found in both dry and wet forests.

• Sparrowhawk ( he is small hawk)(accipiter nisus)

It lives in almost all of Europe, except for the very north, as well as in northern Africa. In Asia, the hawk's range covers southwestern China. In summer, the Sparrowhawk lives and breeds in almost the entire territory of Russia, with the exception of the far north. Sparrowhawks winter in the northeastern regions of Africa and in Western, Central and Southeast Asia, on the Arabian Peninsula - in the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf. The Sparrowhawk is very similar to its relative, the Goshawk, but is much smaller. Because of this, he received the name small hawk. The length of its body is 30-43 cm, and the weight of the hawk reaches 120-280 g. The length of the bird's wing reaches 18-26 cm. The color of these two birds is almost identical: gray or brown plumage at the top, light with transverse stripes at the bottom. Only the stripes of the sparrowhawk have a reddish tint. The undertail of the bird is white, the claws are black, the legs and wax are yellow, the iris is yellow-orange, the beak is brownish-bluish. Females, as in previous species, are larger.

• light hawk(Accipiter novaehollandiae)

Belongs to the genus of true hawks. It got its name because of its color. But this species has two morphs, or subpopulations: gray and white. The gray morph is characterized by a bluish-gray color on the top of the back, head and wings. The abdomen is white with darkish transverse stripes. In the white morph, the plumage is completely white. The body length of this species is 44-55 cm, and the wingspan of a hawk varies from 72 to 101 cm. Hawks live in Australia, including on the island of Tasmania.

• Dark Songhawk(Melierax metabates )

Belongs to the subfamily Melieraxinae, a genus of song hawks. These birds got their name because of the sounds they make, which have some melody. They have a body length of 38 to 51 cm. The wings and tarsals are slightly longer than those of other hawks, and the fingers are shorter. The color is mostly gray: darker on the back and head, and lighter on the chest and neck. The abdomen is painted in gray and white stripes. The hawk's legs are red. The dark song hawk lives in Africa, south of the Sahara, inhabiting open forests and savannahs.

• crested hawk(Accipiter trivirgatus)

Belongs to the genus of true hawks. Inhabits Southeast Asia: west and southwest of India, south of China, the islands of Indonesia, the Philippines and Ceylon, the Indochina peninsula. The appearance and color of the bird are typical for representatives of the genus. Body length 30-46 cm. The back and top of the wings are dark, the abdomen is light with characteristic transverse stripes. A distinctive feature of the crested hawk is a crest, or crest, on the lower part of the nape.

• European Tuvik ( he is short-legged hawk) (accipiter brevipes)

This is a southern bird, representing the genus of true hawks. It has average parameters: body length 30-38 cm, weight from 160 to 220 g, wing length for the male 21.5 - 22 cm, and for the female from 23 to 24 cm. The fingers of the bird are short. The color of the plumage of the top is brownish or slate-gray, the bottom is whitish with reddish or reddish-red transverse stripes. Juveniles are distinguished by a more brown tone of color on the top and stripes. In the middle of the throat they have a dark longitudinal stripe. Short-legged hawks are found in the south of Europe, in the Balkan countries, in the south of Ukraine, in the Crimea, in the south of the European part of Russia, in the Caucasus, in Transcaucasia, in Asia Minor and Iran. For wintering, the tuvik goes to the southern coast of the Caspian Sea, to Syria, Egypt, and the Arabian Peninsula. In addition to the usual food for hawks, it mainly feeds on frogs and lizards.

• red hawk (Erythrotriorchis radiatus )

A bird of prey from the genus of red hawks. It has rather large forms: the length of the body is 45-60 cm and the wingspan is 110-135 cm. The male hawk weighs 635 g, the weight of females reaches 1100-1400 g. The general plumage of the body is reddish with numerous dark spots. The head and throat are light and covered with black spots. In the coloring of the chest and abdomen, there are both light and brown-red shades. In females, the abdomen is lighter than in males. The red hawk is the rarest bird of prey in Australia. It lives in the savannah and in open forest areas in the north and east of Australia, near water bodies. It feeds mainly on birds, including parrots and pigeons.

Taken from: laurieross.com.au

hawk breeding

The hawk is a bird that usually nests in one permanent territory. Some species use the same nest several times, others build a new one, but not far from the old one, and sometimes use other people's nests. Hawks build nests 1.5-2 months before mating in deciduous, mixed, coniferous forests and place them on a branch near a tree trunk, closer to the top. Nests are built from dry twigs, but many individuals include young green shoots, leaves, grass, and needles in them. Song hawks also use mud for construction.

Generally, hawks are monogamous and mate for life. They lay eggs once a year, for several days. In the clutch of different species, there are from 2 to 6 eggs of various colors: from white and greenish to bluish and gray-blue, with and without specks. In temperate latitudes, females begin to lay eggs around May. The female always incubates them, and the male brings food.

After the appearance of the chicks, the male hawk takes care of their food for another 2-3 weeks, but the female feeds the chicks. Then she, too, begins to fly out for prey. Incubation of eggs lasts 32-38 days. Hawk chicks stay in the nest for a little over a month. After the departure, the parents continue to take care of the offspring for about 5-6 weeks. Having become independent, the chicks fly away from the parental nest. Young hawks become sexually mature in a year.

Hawk enemies in nature

In addition to humans and anthropogenic factors, hawks do not have so many enemies. It can become the prey of other birds of prey, for example, owls, owls, eagles, buzzards. Predatory mammals such as foxes, martens, wild cats can also eat a hawk, if of course they are lucky enough to catch it. In addition, young hawks can become prey to adult relatives.

What to feed a hawk at home?

In order to keep a hawk in captivity, you need to create comfortable conditions for it. The room should be large enough so that the bird, "walking" on it, does not damage the wings.

Hawks should be fed their natural food. Meat bought in the market (necessarily lean beef or chicken heads and necks) will not provide the bird with all the necessary vitamins, minerals and nutrients, so such food can not be used for long. Chicks or fledglings can be fed with minced meat, but with the appearance of flight feathers, they must tear the prey on their own. A hawk needs to eat a whole animal or bird in order for bones, wool, feathers to enter the stomach, which is necessary for normal digestion. But it is dangerous to feed a bird with rodents and birds caught on the street, since there is a high probability of infection with various helminths and viruses. The best food for a hawk at home is rodents purchased in special stores.

Birds in captivity experience stress, are very afraid of humans and cannot feed themselves. At first, they must be force-fed, holding out food on a stick, bringing it close to the beak and forcing the bird to open its mouth. Food must be pushed into it so that the bird swallows it. This must be done carefully so as not to damage the throat. Hawks get used to taking food from humans within a few days.

Birds drink little, but love to swim. Two or three times a day they need to put a container of water and clean it after bathing.

Moulting hawks

The harm and benefits of hawks

The hawk is a smart, fast, ruthless and cunning predator capable of causing some damage to the hunting economy. There was a time when in Russia and in other countries hawks were ruthlessly exterminated. There were even rewards for killed birds. But since the fifties of the XX century, this practice has ceased. It was noticed that with the death of predators, game birds and animals began to die, for the sake of which hawks were destroyed. It was experimentally established that among the birds caught by predators, more than 60% were sick. It turned out that birds of prey, including hawks, maintain the viability of the population. And, of course, there is no doubt about the benefits of the destruction of rodents. In Russia, until 2013, the order adopted in the Soviet Union in 1964 “On streamlining the regulation of the number of birds of prey” adopted in the Soviet Union in 1964 was in force, prohibiting the shooting, trapping of birds of prey and the destruction of their nests.

• In North America, North American hummingbirds settle under the nests of hawks, thus escaping from their enemies, jays and squirrels. Hummingbirds are of no interest to hawks, and proteins are included in their diet.
• After the hawk chicks grow up and "stand on the wing", they find their own place of residence. The parental home becomes alien to them. And if, according to old memory, a young hawk approaches his former home, then his parents will perceive him as a stranger and drive him away.
• On the example of the light hawk, scientists for the first time traced the relationship between color polymorphism and the rate of evolution.
• During the hunt, the hawk tries to kill all the victims he has noticed.
• Among the ancient Greeks and Egyptians, as well as in medieval Europe, the killing of a hawk, even unintentionally, was considered a criminal offense.
• Hawks have long been used in different countries for hunting quails and pheasants.
• The hawks raised in the reserves are trained to protect Moscow from crows and pigeons that pollute monuments and spread infections. Hawks are already protecting the Moscow Kremlin from these birds.
• Hawks in a figurative sense are called supporters of war, an aggressive policy and an arms race.