Sharp-shinned Hawk
Accipiter striatus
Silhouette: Shyamal · PhyloPic
- KingdomAnimalia (Animals)
- PhylumChordata (Chordates)
- ClassAves (Birds)
- OrderAccipitriformes (Hawks, Eagles, Kites, and Allies)
- FamilyAccipitridae (Hawks, Eagles, and Kites)
- GenusAccipiter (True Accipiters)
- SpeciesAccipiter striatus (Sharp-shinned Hawk)
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. A recent genetic study additionally recommended splitting the three Caribbean island populations as three additional separate species, though this has not yet been adopted by any of the ornithological authorities.
The sharp-shinned hawk is sometimes separated into four species, with the northern group (see distribution) retaining both the scientific name and the common name sharp-shinned hawk (A. striatus). In addition to the nominate taxon A. s. striatus on Hispaniola, it includes the subspecies A. s. perobscurus on Haida Gwaii, A. s. velox in most... Wikipedia →
Closest Relatives at Chagres National Park
Tiny Hawk
Accipiter superciliosus
American Swallow-tailed Kite
Elanoides forficatus
Broad-winged Hawk
Buteo platypterus
Black Hawk-Eagle
Spizaetus tyrannus
Double-toothed Kite
Harpagus bidentatus
White Hawk
Leucopternis albicollis
Short-tailed Hawk
Buteo brachyurus
Solitary Eagle
Harpyhaliaetus solitarius
Roadside Hawk
Rupornis magnirostris
Plumbeous Kite
Ictinia plumbea
Zone-tailed Hawk
Buteo albonotatus
Swainson's Hawk
Buteo swainsoni
Global Distribution
Warmer areas are where this animal is recorded most often.