The Sharp-shinned Hawk is a daring, acrobatic flier which often appears in a blur of motion and disappears in a flurry of feathers. These raptors have distinctive proportions: long legs, short wings, and very long tails, which they use to speed through dense woods to surprise their prey, typically songbirds. They may also pounce from low perches. Songbirds make up about 90 percent of the Sharp-shinned Hawk’s diet. Birds the size of American Robins or smaller (especially warblers, sparrows, and thrushes) are the most frequent prey. They carry their prey to a stump or low branch to pluck it before eating. Backyard bird feeders do attract Sharp-shinned Hawks from time to time but studies indicate that feeders don’t greatly increase a bird’s chances of being taken by a Sharp-shinned Hawk. When flying across open areas they have a distinctive flap-and-glide flight style and their small heads do not always project beyond the “wrists” of the wings. The tail tends to be square-tipped and may show a notch at the tip. Their typical call is a high-pitched, frantic kik-kik-kik which is used as an alarm call, during courtship, and by young birds just before they fledge. They’re easiest to spot in fall on their southward migration, or occasionally at winter feeders.