sparrow hawk
Americannoun
-
a small, short-winged European hawk, Accipiter nisus, that preys on smaller birds.
noun
Etymology
Origin of sparrow hawk
late Middle English word dating back to 1400–50
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In the sky above, London’s top predators – the peregrine falcon, kestrel and sparrow hawk – keep an eye out for pigeons and songbirds flirting in the garden.
From The Guardian ● Apr. 28, 2020
He cited sparrow hawk nests and badgers as evidence that Sitka forests foster wildlife.
From The Guardian ● Jul. 7, 2019
The song of the sparrow hawk, for example, is like “a speeded-up recording of the sound of the night-jar.”
From The New Yorker ● Apr. 17, 2017
The university’s own website, however, insists the team’s name now refers to an imaginary hybrid of a blue jay and a sparrow hawk, so we’ll have to go with that.
From Slate ● Mar. 14, 2012
Oddly enough, our tiny clamberers utter a loud, shrill alarm-call that bears close resemblance to the querulous protest of the sparrow hawk as you approach her nest or young.
From Our Bird Comrades by Leander S. (Leander Sylvester) Keyser
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
