Introductory
WILDLIFE SPECIES: Accipiter striatus | Sharp-Shinned Hawk 



ABBREVIATION : 
ACST

COMMON NAMES : 
   sharp-shinned hawk
   blue darter
   sparrow hawk
   


TAXONOMY : 
The accepted scientific name of sharp-shinned hawk is Accipiter striatus
Vieillot [1,48].  

There are 10 generally accepted subspecies.  The American
Ornithologists' Union notes that some of the subspecies are sometimes
given species status.  Geographic variation of the subspecies is clinal
and complex.  Sharp-shinned hawks in Mexico are larger than those in the
rest of North America.  Subspecies in the West Indies are generally
smaller than North American birds [23].

The subspecies that occur in Canada and the United States are [22,39]:

      Accipiter striatus velox (Wilson)        (Canada, U. S.)
      A. s. perobscurus Snyder                 (Queen Charlotte Is., B. C.)
      
The subspecies occurring from Mexico to South America are [22,39]:

     A. s. suttoni van Rossem    (northern Mexico)
     A. s. madrensis Storer      (southwestern Mexico)
     A. s. chionogaster Kaup     (southern Mexico, Guatemala to Nicaragua)
     A. s. ventralis Sclater  (western Venezuela, Columbia to western Bolivia)
     A. s. erythronemius Kaup (eastern Bolivia and southern Brazil to Uruguay)

Subspecies occurring on islands in the West Indies are [22,39]:

     A. s. fringilloides Vigors (Cuba)
     A. s. striatus Vieillot (Hispaniola)
     A. s. venator Wetmore (Puerto Rico)


ORDER : 
Falconiformes

CLASS : 
Bird

FEDERAL LEGAL STATUS : 
See OTHER STATUS

OTHER STATUS : 
The Puerto Rican sharp-shinned hawk (Accipiter striatus venator) is
federally listed as proposed for endangered status [61].

The sharp-shinned hawk is on The Blue List of the Audobon Society [49].
Sharp population declines were noted in the eastern United States in the
early 1970's.  By 1982, the sharp-shinned hawk was greatly declining or
failing to breed over large portions of the eastern half of North
America.  Stable or increasing numbers observed during migration in the
early 1980's were attributed to larger numbers of hawk migration
watchers.  By 1986, however, increasing numbers were still being
reported and were more accepted as reflecting the true status of the
hawk.  Known breeding pairs in eastern North America continued to be
low.

The sharp-shinned hawk is state listed as endangered in Illinois [60]
and Missouri, threatened in Tennessee, rare in West Virginia, and of
Special Concern in Alabama [19], Massachussetts [6], and Montana [13].


COMPILED BY AND DATE : 
Janet Sullivan, November 1994


LAST REVISED BY AND DATE : 
NO-ENTRY


AUTHORSHIP AND CITATION : 
Sullivan, Janet. 1994. Accipiter striatus. In: Remainder of Citation

Related categories for Wildlife Species: Accipiter striatus | Sharp-Shinned Hawk