THE AMERICAN SPARROW HAWK 



(Falco sparverius.} 



The American Sparrow Hawk is prob 

 ably one of the best known of all of the 

 hawks for it is always busy hunting its 

 prey, usually in open places. It is one 

 of the smallest as well as one of the most 

 beautiful of our hawks. Its economic 

 value is also very great for it seems 

 to prefer grasshoppers for food and 

 it may be considered practically an 

 insectivorous bird, excepting in those 

 seasons and places where insects cannot 

 be obtained. Where grasshoppers are 

 abundant the Sparrow Hawks will fre 

 quently gather in rather small flocks and 

 feeding constantly upon them they will 

 destroy a very large number of these 

 pests. Dr. A. K. Fisher, an authority on 

 the economic value of birds, says: 

 "Rarely do they touch any other form of 

 food until, either by the advancing sea 

 son or other natural causes, the grasshop 

 per crop is so lessened that their hunger 

 can not be appeased without undue exer 

 tion. Then other kinds of insects and 

 other forms of life contribute to their 

 fare; and beetles, spiders, mice, shrews, 

 small snakes, lizards, or even birds may 

 be required to bring up the balance." 

 The grasshoppers certainly have no more 

 persistent enemy, and fortunately for the 

 agriculturist the Sparrow Hawks are al 

 ways hungry and continuously gorge 

 themselves. In 1879, Mr. H. W. Hen- 

 shaw wrote: "The west side of Chew- 

 aucan Valley (Oregon) has suffered se 

 verely from a visitation of that scourge 

 of the western farmer, the grasshoppers. 

 Here in August the Sparrow Hawks had 

 assembled in hundreds and were holding 

 high carnival, and although in instances 

 like the present their numbers proved 

 wholly insufficient to cope against the 

 vast myriads of these destructive insects, 

 yet the work of the Sparrow Hawk is 

 by no means so insignificant that it 

 should not be remembered to his credit 

 and earn him well merited protection." 

 Dr. Fisher reports the examination of 



three hundred and twenty stomachs. Of 

 these, one contained a game bird; fifty- 

 three, other birds; eighty-nine, mice; 

 twelve, other mammals; twelve, reptiles 

 or batrachians ; two hundred and fifteen, 

 insects ; twenty-nine, spiders ; and twenty 

 nine were empty. During the colder 

 months the Sparrow Hawks capture and 

 feed upon mice, other small mammals, 

 and the smaller birds, for their insect 

 food has practically disappeared. Most 

 of the birds captured are individuals of 

 those species which spend much of their 

 time among the weeds and in the dry 

 grass, seeking their food of seeds. The 

 Sparrow Hawks feed so largely on field 

 mice in some localities that they have 

 been called Mouse Hawks. Dr. Fisher 

 says : "In the spring, when new ground 

 or meadow is broken by the plow, they 

 often become very tame if not molested. 

 They fly down, even alighting under the 

 very horses for an instant in their en 

 deavor to capture an unearthed mouse 

 or insect." 



The Sparrow Hawks hunt for* their 

 food both on the wing and while quietly 

 perched. They will often fly across a 

 field or meadow, now and then instantly 

 stopping their swift flight and hovering 

 with moving wings over a spot where 

 they mistrust the presence of their prey, 

 they may suddenly perceive it and drop 

 to the ground. If successful, the object 

 caught in their talons is carried to some 

 perch and devoured. Their favorite 

 place when hunting for prey from a 

 perch, is a dead, branchless tree trunk, 

 or a stub at the border of woods or pre 

 ferably in the open' field. Telegraph 

 poles and their cross bars, especially in 

 the western portion of their range, are 

 favorite perches of these handsome 

 Hawks. They may also perch upon the 

 wires. From these points of observation, 

 they closely watch the ground and when 

 they see their prey, it may be a grasshop 

 per or a mouse, they quickly fly down in 



