Subspecies
Genus | Species | subspecies | Region | Range |
Accipiter | brachyurus | AU | New Britain |
Genus
Members of the genus Accipiter are small and medium-sized hawks, often called Sparrow-hawks or Goshawks. The females are almost invariably much larger than the males – in some cases weighing twice as much – a level of size dimorphism only exceptionally reached in any other genus Falconiformes. Their wings are short and rounded; the tail usually quite long. They are well adapted for flying through dense bush. Bird-catching Sparrow-hawks generally have long and slender legs, with slender digits, the middle one being especially long. Goshawks are usually larger, with shorter, thicker tarsi and digits and a shorter middle digit. Some smaller species have goshawk-like feet and vice versa, making it difficult on a world-wide basis to subdivide the genus on this or any other broad basis. Although many accipiters feed upon birds moreso than do other hawks, some species take many mammals, especially squirrels; others take lizards, frogs, snakes, insects, even snails. In these species the legs and digits are sometimes slender, but short. Accipiters are rarely crested, but some have very attractive colour patterns. Black phases are present, especially in the tropical species. One in Australia has the only pure white phase. Accipiter is the largest genus in the family, having about fifty species. It is present worldwide, but is especially rich in Papua-New Guinea, where a small island like New Britain may have three to five endemic species or distinct sub-species.
Physical charateristics
wingspan min.: | 0 | cm | wingspan max.: | 0 | cm |
size min.: | 27 | cm | size max.: | 34 | cm |
incubation min.: | 0 | days | incubation max.: | 0 | days |
fledging min.: | 0 | days | fledging max.: | 0 | days |
broods: | 0 | eggs min.: | 0 | ||
eggs max.: | 0 |
Range
Habitat
Reproduction
Feeding habits
Conservation
Lowland populations are threatened by the extensive logging of lowland forests, often with conversion to oil-palm plantations, across its range. On New Britain, lowland forest clearance for conversion to oil palm plantations has been intense in recent decades and the island accounts for approximately half of Papua New Guinea’s timber exports.