Eurasian Sparrowhawk - Taxonomy

Taxonomy

Within the Accipitridae family, the Eurasian Sparrowhawk is a member of the large genus Accipiter, which consists of small to medium-sized woodland hawks. Most of the Old World members of the genus are called sparrowhawks or goshawks. The species name' dates back to the Middle English word sperhauk and Old English spearhafoc, a hawk which hunts sparrows. The Old Norse name for the Eurasian Sparrowhawk, sparrhaukr, was thought to have been coined by Vikings who encountered falconry in England. English folk names for the Eurasian Sparrowhawk include Blue Hawk, referring to the adult male's colouration, as well as Hedge Hawk, Spar Hawk, Spur Hawk and Stone Falcon.

The Eurasian Sparrowhawk was described by Linnaeus in his 18th century work, Systema Naturae, as Falco nisus, but moved to its present genus by French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760. The current scientific name is derived from the Latin accipiter, meaning 'hawk' and nisus, the sparrowhawk. According to Greek mythology, Nisus, the king of Megara, was turned into a sparrowhawk after his daughter, Scylla, cut off his purple lock of hair to present to her lover (and Nisus' enemy), Minos.

The Eurasian Sparrowhawk forms a superspecies with the Rufous-chested Sparrowhawk of eastern and southern Africa, and possibly the Madagascar Sparrowhawk. Geographic variation is clinal, with birds becoming larger and paler in the eastern part of the range compared to the west. Within the species itself, six subspecies are generally recognised:

• A. n. nisus, the nominate subspecies, was described by Linnaeus in 1758. It breeds from Europe and west Asia to western Siberia and Iran; northern populations winter south to the Mediterranean, north-east Africa, Arabia and Pakistan.
• A. n. nisosimilis was described by Samuel Tickell in 1833. It breeds from central and eastern Siberia east to Kamchatka and Japan, and south to northern China. This subspecies is wholly migratory, wintering from Pakistan and India eastwards through South-East Asia and southern China to Korea and Japan; some even reach Africa. It is very similar to, but slightly larger than, the nominate subspecies.
• A. n. melaschistos was described by Allan Octavian Hume in 1869. It breeds in mountains from Afghanistan through the Himalayas and southern Tibet to western China, and winters in the plains of South Asia. Larger and longer tailed than nisosimilis, it has dark slate-coloured upperparts, and more distinct rufous barring on the underparts.
• A. n. wolterstorffi, described by Otto Kleinschmidt in 1900, is resident in Sardinia and Corsica. It is the smallest of all the races, darker on the upperparts and more barred below than the nominate subspecies.
• A. n. granti, described by Richard Bowdler Sharpe in 1890, is confined to Madeira and the Canary Islands. It is small and dark.
• A. n. punicus, described by Erlanger in 1897, is resident in north-west Africa, north of the Sahara. It is very similar to nisus, being large and pale.