What Is A Hawk?

A Hawk is a birds of prey. These belong to many of the species in the bird sub family namely Accipitrinae. They belong to the genera of Accipiter, Micronisus, Melierax, Urotriorchis, and Megatriorchis. The genus of Accipiter generally comprise of includes goshawks, sparrowhawks, the Sharp-shinned Hawk and others. These birds have a long tail and also a high visual acuity. The true hawks include eagles, kites, harriers, buzzards, and Old World vultures.

The vision of hawks is generally considered to be very sharp. Their vision is as good as 20/2, about eight times more acute than humans with good eyesight. This is due to the numerous photoreceptors in the retina. They have around 1,000,000 per square mm, whereas 200,000 for humans. They have numerous nerves that connect the receptors to the brain. Unlike other animals they have two sets of eye muscles and also an indented fovea which gives a bigger view of the central part of the visual field.

One of the most common hawks in the UK is the Kestrel, which can be seen hovering around roads in search of small rodents.

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