Focusing On Small Raptor
Little Sparrowhawk Accipiter minullus a tiny hawk that flies at speed, nimbly within woodland thickets and forests hunting small birds, vertebrates or insects.
Distinctive white rump with two pale spots on the upper tail arrived silently, they do have a high-pitched call. Secretive behaviour one normally won't notice them, similar size to the half-collared dove they are the smallest hawk in South Africa.
Sitting at my desk a slight movement caught in corner of my eye, looking out I noticed form still not able to identify, quietly approaching the window which was fortunately open with some leaves still obscuring a good view, realized it was the little sparrowhawk by the tail markings.
Little sparrowhawk tends to sit in the middle of a tree to keep cover, out of sight.
To obtain a few more photographs I moved to another room in the house to enable more detail, have not seen this bird for at least two seasons, they still around making it the highlight for start of September season.
An unusual fact about this little raptor is the female is larger than the male with the story attached being of different size enables them to hunt different prey, larger female also factors in for protecting the nest and young.
Perhaps my good intentions with garden seed feeding program, water close to hand plays devils advocate here, many smaller birds around for the sparrowhawks to have variety in diet, higher hunting success rate, that's life!
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All photography and stories are my own, thanks for reading and visiting. No AI here!
Thought for Today: "When the cock is drunk, he forgets about the hawk." - African Proverb
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