BirdForum - The net's largest birding community, dedicated to wild birds The Eurasian sparrowhawk breeds in well-grown, extensive areas of woodland, often coniferous or mixed, preferring forest with a structure neither too dense nor too open, to allow a choice of flight paths. Even though they look alike, it is still easy to distinguish a Sparrow hawk from a Peregrine falcon: only the Peregrine has a black head (the young have a brown one) and a moustache. The young have brown stripes, adult females have dark grey ones and adult males have red ones. Female Sparrowhawk (left) and Peregrine Falcon (right) Peregrines have dark eyes and a characteristic mask as well as dark blue-grey upperparts and barred pale underparts.
Bird Identification Q&A. These falcons catch prey on the wing, steadily cruising higher up in the sky before swooping down at speeds of up to 200 mph to catch flying birds such as pigeons or starlings.
Like the Peregrine, the Sparrow hawk also has a grey back and a whitish chest with bar markings.
Sparrowhawk or Peregrine?