The Sparrow hawk Accipiter nisus hunts a wide range of prey from small birds to starlings and pigeons. Capable of agile flight with short rounded wings, it can dart through woodland just as easily as it can ambush garden birds in the open. Female sparrow hawks are larger than males and twice as heavy, with yellow eyes and legs. Sparrow hawks have made a good recovery from the effects of the (now banned) organo-chlorine pesticides which devastated populations throughout Britain in the 1950s and 60s.
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