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SHARP-SHINNED HAWK <br /> (Accipiter striatus) <br /> STATUS <br /> Federal: None <br /> State: Species of Special Concern <br /> Other: Audubon Society Watch List; CNDDB Special Animal <br /> DESCRIPTION <br /> Sharp-shinned hawks are small accipiters or woodland hawks. They have a <br /> wing span of about two feet and a body length of approximately a foot. They <br /> have short, rounded wings and comparatively long tails. Adults are bluish- <br /> gray above with reddish horizontal barring on the underparts. Immatures <br /> have bold reddish streaks on the whitish underparts with a narrow white tail <br /> tip. They can be distinguished from the similar Cooper's hawk by a relatively <br /> smaller head and neck as well as the squared tail tip (National Geographic <br /> Society, 1987). <br /> DISTRIBUTION <br /> The sharp-shinned hawk breeds throughout the United States and Central <br /> Canada. They winter from the northern United States south to Mexico and the <br /> Central and South Americas. A large proportion of wintering populations of <br /> sharp-shinned hawks reside south of the United States (Evans, 1982). In <br /> California sharp-shinned hawks are breeders, migrants and uncommon <br /> wintering birds. The largest concentration of migrants occurs along the <br /> California coast, particularly the Marin Headlands, from mid-September <br /> through mid-October. <br /> HABITAT PREFERENCES <br /> In California the sharp-shinned hawk breeds primarily in the northern Sierra <br /> Nevada (Beedy and Granholm, 1985). They nest in coniferous and deciduous <br /> forests from the ponderosa pine belt to the red fir zone. Between these two <br /> zones they nest in riparian woodlands. Their nests are placed high in a tree on <br /> I' a horizontal branch and along the trunk. Sharp-shinned hawks utilize a <br /> variety of habitats in the winter including valley floor orchards and riparian <br /> areas (Ehrlich, Dobkin and Wheye, 1988). <br /> FORAGING HABITS <br /> The sharp-shinned hawk feeds almost exclusively on small song birds taken by <br /> surprise from a concealed perch or pursued agilely and rapidly through dense <br /> vegetation. Sharp-shinned hawks completely pluck their prey before taking it <br /> back to the nest. As with the Cooper's hawk, these "plucking posts" are good <br /> indications of nearby nesting activity (Ehrlich, Dobkin and Wheye, 1988). <br />�r <br /> n <br />