Chestnut-flanked Sparrowhawk
Aerospiza castanilius
A tiny hawk with a dark slaty back, an owl-like facial expression, and dense red-brown and gray barring on the breast with redder flanks. These dark colors contrast with the hawk’s yellowish face and legs. Rarely encountered in thick forest, where it can sometimes be seen attending to driver ant swarms. This species closely resembles the larger Red-chested Goshawk, but note the small size and, if possible, look for the long inner claw relative to the other toes. Vocalizations undescribed.
Identification
Chestnut-flanked sparrowhawk has blackish grey upperparts with a very distinctive pattern on the underparts; the breast and belly are heavily barred grey and brown, with chestnut colored flanks. The throat is white and the head is rather broad compared to similar species. The cere is yellow as is the thin eyering which surrounds the red eye. Females and juveniles are browner. They sit 25 cm (9.8 in) tall and have a wingspan of 60 cm (24 in).
Taxonomy
Closely related to the African goshawk Accipiter tachiro and the red-chested goshawk Accipiter toussenelii, albeit smaller than either of those species. It is normally regarded as monotypic, although some authorities recognise the smaller birds in the Congo Basin as the subspecies Accipiter castanilius beniensis.
- Scientific name
- Aerospiza castanilius
- Authority
- Bonaparte, 1853
- Order
- Accipitriformes
- Family
- Accipitridae
- Genus
- Aerospiza
Range and habitat
The chestnut-flanked sparrowhawk occurs in west central Africa from southern Nigeria through Cameroon and Gabon to Democratic Republic of Congo. It is said to occur in the Upper Guinean forests west of Nigeria but this has not been confirmed. The chestnut-flanked sparrowhawk is found mainly in lowland tropical rainforest, mainly in the middle storey but it can adapt to dense secondary growth and will approach habitation in the forest. It is found up to 750 m (2,460 ft) above sea level.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Migration pattern: Resident species.
Conservation
Population trend: declining.
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Other Birds
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Hierococcyx fugax
Large hawk-like cuckoo of dense forests, usually foraging in the canopy, where difficult to see. Adult has gray upperparts, streaked white underparts, and long tail with thick dark bars. Juvenile similar but darker brown overall. Large Hawk-Cuckoo very similar but adult averages larger, with a more elongated profile, broader tail bands, and extensive rusty smudging on the neck; juvenile lacks the rusty tone but is densely marked below with arrow-shaped marks, unlike the rounder, sparser marks of juvenile Malaysian. Juvenile Hodgson’s Hawk-Cuckoo also confusingly similar but is likewise more extensively streaked below. Gives two distinct songs, a high “kiwit!” and a rapid-fire series of piping notes.
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