Eurasian Sparrowhawk

Eurasian Sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus) is a small woodland hawk whose males have blue-grey upperparts and orange-barred underparts, while larger females are browner. Body shape, bill structure, plumage pattern and voice provide the strongest field characters. Age, sex and season may alter its appearance, so identification should combine several features and careful direct field comparisons with similar species in the same habitat (Wikipedia, general species account).

It specialises in catching birds, using short wings and a long tail for rapid pursuit through cover, and also hunts around gardens and other wooded urban habitats. Its movements and social behaviour vary through the year, with breeding birds generally more dispersed and non-breeding birds gathering where food is concentrated. Japanese records place it within the country's documented avifauna as a resident, migrant or visitor (Wikipedia, general species account; Wildlife of Japan occurrence records).