Hawk

The term hawk refers to birds of prey in any of three senses:

• Strictly, to mean any of the species in the bird sub-family Accipitrinae in the genera Accipiter, Micronisus, Melierax, Urotriorchis, and Megatriorchis. The large and widespread Accipiter genus includes goshawks, sparrowhawks , the Sharp-shinned Hawk and others. They are mainly woodland birds that hunt by sudden dashes from a concealed perch. They usually have long tails and high visual acuity.

• More generally, to mean small to medium-sized birds that are members of the Accipitridae, the family which includes the true hawks (Accipiters) and also eagles, kites, harriers, buzzards, and Old World vultures.

• Loosely, to mean almost any bird of prey.

The common names of birds in various parts of the world often use hawk loosely. For example, in North America, the Buteos are called "hawks".

In February 2005 the Canadian scientist Dr Louis Lefebvre announced a method of measuring avian IQ in terms of their innovation in feeding habits. Hawks were named among the most intelligent birds based on this scale.

Hawks are believed to have vision as good as 20/2, about eight times more acute than humans with good eyesight. This is because of many photoreceptors in the retina (Up to 1,000,000 per square mm, against 200,000 for humans), a very high number of nerves connecting the receptors to the brain, a second set of eye muscles not found in other animals, and an indented fovea, which magnifies the central part of the visual field.

The Japanese Sparrowhawk (Accipiter gularis) is a bird of prey in the family Accipitridae which also includes many other diurnal raptors such as eagles, buzzards and harriers.

It breeds in China, Japan, Korea and Siberia; winters in Indonesia and Philippines, passing through the rest of South-east Asia. It is a bird of open and wooded areas.

It is 23-30cm in length, with the female larger than the male. The male has dark barred underwings, lightly barred underparts, dark grey upperparts and red eyes. Female has yellow eyes and dark barred underparts. Juvenile has brown upperparts and streaks on breast.

It feeds on birds taken on flight.

The Chinese Goshawk (Accipiter soloensis) is a bird of prey in the family Accipitridae which also includes many other diurnal raptors such as eagles, buzzards and harriers. Also called Chinese sparrowhawk.

It breeds in Southeast China, Taiwan, Korea and Siberia; winters in Indonesia and Philippines, passing through the rest of Southeast Asia. It is a bird of wooded areas.

It is 30-36cm in length, with the female larger than the male. Adult has prominent black wing tips. The male is grey above, white below and has red eyes. Female has rufous on breast and underwing coverts, and yellow eyes. Juvenile has grey face, brown upperparts and yellow eyes. The top underparts are streaked, while the thighs are barred. The black wing tips are not as prominent and underwings streaked (except for coverts).

It feeds mainly on frogs, but will take lizards as well.