CHINESE SPARROWHAWK
Accipter soloensis
Accipitridae Family

Length 278mm (11"), Wingspan 610mm (24")
Migrant- Fairly Common

Bird #136 - March 2009

This is called Chinese Goshawk in the Kennedy guide. The first time we saw this bird was in Caylabne. We were not able to take a picture at that time. We driving on the road on the way to the houses in Caylabne when we saw the Chinese Goshawk flying among the trees. Tina said that she heard that there was a Chinese Goshawk with a nest in that area.

Three years later, we were able to photograph a perched Chinese Goshawk eating a skink in Mt. Makiling. It landed on a big branch in front of our path. It proceeded to eat the skink that it carried to the branch. We got to watch it for several minutes.

Chinese Goshawks are migrants. They are about 11 inches long. It is listed in the Kennedy guide as "fairly common". Every year the Wild Bird Club of the Philippines conducts raptor watching sessions in Tanay, Rizal where they count the migrating raptors as they fly from the Philippines to Taiwan. They are able to see Chinese Goshawks in flocks of up to 80 birds at a time. In one day, they are able to see hundreds of Chinese Goshawks.

We got to see and photograph another younger Chinese Goshawk in Negros.

We were wondering about the young hawk from Negros and asked Phil Round what he thought, he was kind enough to give a reply. His answer might be interesting to anyone who is wondering if a young hawk is a Besra or a Chinese Goshawk. " This is a juvenile Chinese Sparrowhawk (Chinese Goshawk if you prefer). The bird has a dark grey orbital ring (it is bright yellow in Besra); it has a quite bright (orange-yellow rather than lemon-yellow) and rather bulbous cere that is also characteristic of Chinese. It has got a long primary projection (long, pointed wings). Another feature (maybe not obvious in the photos as this difference is very slight) is that the tarsi are slightly (proportionately) shorter, thicker than in most related species."