sparrow hawk

American  

noun

1. a small, short-winged European hawk, Accipiter nisus, that preys on smaller birds.

2. American kestrel.

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sparrow hawk British  

noun

1. a very small North American falcon, Falco sparverius, that is closely related to the kestrels

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Etymology

Origin of sparrow hawk

late Middle English word dating back to 1400–50

Example Sentences

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

On the first of January I saw a sparrow hawk sitting on the spire of a church in the heart of a city of eighteen thousand people.

From Bird Day; How to prepare for it by Babcock, Charles Almanzo