Species:

Horned Lark (Eremophila alpestris)

Sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus)

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Length (cm):
14-17
28-38
Wingspan (cm):
30-35
55-70
Weight (gram):
26-46
110-342
Size group:
Sparrow-size
Crow-size
Main Texts:
Appearance:

Breeding plumage: Yellow face with broad black moustache stripes and black lores. Black forecrown and thin black horns. Black breast band with blunt vertical extension towards throat (sometimes connects to moustache stripes). Black tail with white sides. Juveniles covered in small pale spots with only faint facial markings. May be confused with juvenile Skylark, but note shorter bill and yellowish face of young Shore larks.

Sound:

Song a stream of thin and tinkling, squeaking notes with a recurring, drawn, ringing and slightly ascending chirp. Timbre resemblant to Lapland Bunting. Often given from high in the air, being difficult to locate. More hesitantly when given from the ground with a stumbling introduction. Flight call quite similar to Meadow Pipit's "tseep" call, but less anxious.

Song:

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See sound file


Distribution:

Wikipedia: map (se also Xeno-canto below)

Ecology:

Birdlife ecology

Links:

Observation.org Latest observations

Video IBC

Image search Flickr NB! May give other species

Sound search at Xeno-canto

Featherbase

CC

CC-sound:Nathan Pieplow, Licence,Link.

Appearance:

Small raptor with long tail and short, rounded wings. Quite similar to Goshawk, and female Sparrowhawks may approach male Goshawks in size (female much larger than male in both species). Upperparts grey in male, and brownish in female and juvenile. Underparts barred in buff in male, and brown barring in female and juveniles. Supercilium may be prominent in females. Less bulky than Goshawk, with more slender hips and less deep chest. The sharper corners of the tail is visible when soaring.

Sound:

Series of short "ke-ke-ke-ke-ke", with rising pitch. Less resonant and less full than similar call of Goshawk, and much faster. Also a short "peeaaaa", shorter and more squeaky than Buzzard.

Alarm call:

Error loading Flash for sound!
See sound file


Distribution:

Wikipedia: map (se also Xeno-canto below)

Ecology:

Birdlife ecology

Links:

Observation.org Latest observations

Video IBC

Image search Flickr NB! May give other species

Sound search at Xeno-canto

Featherbase

CC

Similar species (image):
Similar species (sound):
Silhouette Group:
Wagtail/pipit-like
Silhouette
Raptors
Silhouette
Several different images of the species
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Several different sounds of the species
Error loading Flash for sound!
See sound file
Error loading Flash for sound!
See sound file