Red-thighed Sparrowhawk

Tachyspiza erythropus (Hartlaub, 1855)

Red-thighed Sparrowhawk, Tachyspiza erythropus, is a bird of western and west-central Africa, where it breeds in lowland primary rainforest, forest edges, clearings and older secondary forest. It is a very small sparrowhawk with a distinctive tail pattern. The species was first described by Hartlaub in 1855 and is now placed in Tachyspiza after earlier treatment in Accipiter. Two subspecies are recognised, with the nominate form in Senegal and Gambia to Nigeria, and zenkeri from Cameroon to west Uganda and north Angola.

Order

Accipitriformes

Family

Accipitridae — Kites, Hawks, Eagles

Breeding range

Africa: w, wc