Sharp-Shinned Hawk (Accipiter striatus)

County List:

Rule:

Forested or Mixed Forested/Nonforested Landscapes

1st alternative:
      (Any Upland Deciduous (Sm Saw or Lg Saw or Uneven)) 
   containing:
      (Conifer Inclusions and Stand/Gap Openings)

2nd alternative:
      (Any Upland Deciduous (Sm Saw or Lg Saw or Uneven)) 
   containing:
      Conifer Inclusions
   adjacent to:
      Edge

3rd alternative:
      (Any Upland Conifer Except Conifer Plantations (Sm Saw or Lg Saw or Uneven)) 
      or (Any Upland Mixed (Sm Saw or Lg Saw or Uneven))
   containing:
      Stand/Gap Openings

4th alternative:
      (Any Upland Conifer Except Conifer Plantations (Sm Saw or Lg Saw or Uneven)) 
      or (Any Upland Mixed (Sm Saw or Lg Saw or Uneven))
   adjacent to:
      Edge

Habitat List:

view size class definitions

Literature:

The Sharp-shinned Hawk prefers areas of open woodland or dense forest with occasional openings where prey items, mainly passerines are abundant. Among the many species the Sharp-shinned Hawk will take for food are woodpeckers, warblers, swifts, thrushes, and larks. Also taken are a variety of rodents, lizards, frogs, and large insects. It most often nests in a stand of coniferous trees situated near an opening in the vegetation. In areas where hunting is good but conifers rare, the sharp-shinned will nest in a deciduous tree.

Preference for coniferous forest.

Habitat: Breeding: Open mixed or coniferous woodlands, clearings, edges. A bird of cold-temperate conifer forests and temperate deciduous woodlands. Wintering: Same as breeding habitat.

Special Habitat Requirements: Extensive open mixed woodlands that are free from human disturbance.

Habitat: Mixed or coniferous forests, open deciduous woodlands, thickets, edges. Usually nests in groves of coniferous trees in mixed wood, sometimes in dense deciduous trees or in pure coniferous forest with brush or clearings nearby. In winter, found in any kind of forest or brushy area, but tends to avoid open country.

Diet: Mostly small birds. Feeds mostly on birds of about sparrow size up to robin size, sometimes up to the size of quail. Also eats numbers of rodents, bats, squirrels, lizards, frogs, snakes, large insects.

Nest: Site is very well concealed, usually in a dense conifer (such as spruce or fir) within forest or thick grove; usually 20-60 feet above ground, but can be lower or higher in suitably dense cover. Sometimes builds on top of old nest of squirrel or crow. Nest is a platform of sticks lined with bark strips, twigs, grass.