Male: Upperparts, face, dark grey. Crown darker. Eye, orange-red. Tail, grey with four broad blackish bars. Throat, undertail coverts, white, with throat (sometimes) having a narrow black mesial stripe. Breast, belly, pale rufous with faint barring. Wing lining, buff with brown spots. Flight feathers, below, barred greyish-brown and white. Cere, skin around eye, greenish-yellow. Bill, blackish-grey, grey at base. Legs, olive-yellow to yellow.
Female: Upperparts, face, dark grey. Crown darker. Eye, orange-yellow. Eyebrow, whitish. Tail, grey with four broad blackish bars. Throat, undertail coverts, white, with throat (sometimes) having a narrow black mesial stripe. Breast, belly, white, finely barred greyish brow. Wing lining, buff with brown spots. Flight feathers, below, barred greyish-brown and white. Cere, skin around eye, greenish-yellow. Bill, blackish-grey, grey at base. Legs, olive-yellow to yellow.
Immatures: Similar to female but upperparts dark brown, feathers edged with buff. Upper breast streaked with greyish-brown. Lower breast, belly, broadly and less distinctly barred.
Other Names (World)
Japanese Sparrowhawk, Japanese Lesser Sparrowhawk, Asiatic Sparrowhawk
Family
Accipitridae (Hawks, Eagles)
Size
Male: 25 - 30 cm
Female: 30 - 31 cm
Wingspan: 41 - 51 cm
First Described (Guide)
(Temminck & Schlegel, 1844)
Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China (mainland) (B), Hong Kong (China), India, Indonesia, Japan (B), Laos, Macao (China), Malaysia, Mongolia (B), Myanmar, North Korea (B), Philippines, Russia (Asian) (B), Russia (Central Asian) (B), Singapore, South Korea (B), Taiwan (China) (B), Thailand, Vietnam.
Japanese Sparrowhawk (Accipiter gularis) [XC511076]
by id from Beutong, Kabupaten Nagan Raya, Aceh, Indonesia (call)
Japanese Sparrowhawk (Accipiter gularis) [XC127892]
by Albert Lastukhin from Tai Po Kau, China (call)
Breeding Season (Guide)
Does not breed in Australia.
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Subspecies
Sometimes included in Besra (Accipiter virgatus), but full species status now generally agreed upon. They probably form a superspecies, possibly along with Dwarf Sparrowhawk (Accipiter nanus). Subspecies sometimes rejected, and species considered monotypic.
The following 3 subspecies are recognised:
sibiricus Stepanyan, 1959 - Upper R Ob and Mongolia east to middle R Lena, eastern China and Taiwan; presumably winters from Andaman and Nicobar Is east to southern China and Greater Sundas.
gularis (Temminck & Schlegel, 1844) - Sakhalin, southern Kuril Is and Japan. Winters south to Philippines, Greater Sundas, northern Sulawesi and Timor.
iwasakii Mishima, 1962 - Southern Ryukyu Is (Iriomote, Ishigaki).
Similar Species
Chinese Sparrowhawk (Accipiter soloensis)
Has a white wing lining and black wing tips. Cere is orange.
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BirdLife International Species Factsheet