Illustration of sparrow hawk
- sparrow hawk a
sparrow hawk
noun
: any of various small hawks: such as
a
: an Old World accipiter (Accipiter nisus) that is dark gray to blackish above with the female having a grayish-brown barred underside and the male having a chestnut barred underside
b
Examples of sparrow hawk in a Sentence
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Seconds later, a sparrow hawk swooped in; all of the tits had escaped safely.
—
Rivka Galchen, The New Yorker, 14 Oct. 2024
For example, in the Netherlands, the Eurasian sparrow hawk has been late for dinner because its prey, the blue tit, has -- over 16 years -- arrived almost six days earlier than the hawk.
—CBS News, 17 Apr. 2018
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Rivka Galchen, The New Yorker, 14 Oct. 2024
For example, in the Netherlands, the Eurasian sparrow hawk has been late for dinner because its prey, the blue tit, has -- over 16 years -- arrived almost six days earlier than the hawk.
—CBS News, 17 Apr. 2018
Cite this Entry
“Sparrow hawk.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sparrow%20hawk. Accessed 1 May. 2025.
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