Eurasian Sparrowhawk

SCI Name:  Accipiter nisus
Protonym:  Falco Nisus Syst.Nat.ed.10 p.92
Taxonomy:  Accipitriformes / Accipitridae / Accipiter
Taxonomy Code:  eurspa1
Type Locality:  Europe; restricted to Sweden by Linnaeus, 1761, Fauna Svecica, ed. 2, p. 24.
Author:  Linnaeus
Publish Year:  1758
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

ACCIPITER
(Accipitridae; Ϯ Eurasian Sparrowhawk A. nisus) L. accipiter, accipitris  hawk  < accipere  to grasp (the original meaning was “to understand” rather than “to seize”) (cf. Med. L. accipiter  Sparrowhawk; ancipiter  Goshawk; "another possible origin is from the Greek aci for 'swift' and pertrum [?πτερον] for 'wing'." (Clark & Davies 2018)); "Accipiter. Genus 8.  ...  Les femelles des Oiseaux de ce genre sont plus grandes que leurs mâles. Elles sont aussi mieux faites, plus fortes & plus courageuses. Pour cette raison on appelle les mâles Tiercelets; parce qu'ils sont d'environ un tiers plus petits que leurs femelles.  ...  **1. L'EPERVIER.  ...  ACCIPITER." (Brisson 1760): based on "Accipiter minor" of Gessner 1555, "Accipiter fringillarius" of Gessner 1555, Schwenckfeld 1603, Jonston 1650-1653, and Charleton 1668, "Nisus" of Willughby 1676, and Sibbald 1684, and numerous other references; "Accipiter Brisson, Orn., 1, 1760, p. 28, 310. Type, by tautonymy, Accipiter Brisson = Falco nisus Linné." (Peters, 1931, I, 205). 
Synon. Aerospiza, Aesalon, Asterias, Astur, Chirospizias, Cooperastur, Daedalion, Dinospizias, Erythrospiza, Eunisus, Eusparvius, Hieraspiza, Ierax, Leptohierax, Leucospiza, Lophospiza, Neonisus, Nisastur, Nisuoides, Nisus, Paraspizias, Phabotypus, Scelospiza, Sparvius, Spilospiza, Tachyspiza, Teraspiza, Urospiza.

nisus
Med. L. nisus  sparrowhawk  < Gr. myth. Nisus, son of Pandion II and king of Megara, who was changed into a hawk after his city had been betrayed to Minos of Crete by his own daughter, Scylla. Scylla was changed into a lark, condemned forever to fly in fear from her father. Some versions of the legend have Nisus metamorphosed into an Osprey (v. Pandion) or a sea eagle, and his treacherous daughter into a fish (cf. "NESR des Égyptiens. Ce mot NESR est un nom générique qui a toujours été traduit par aquila; mais aujourd'hui le peuple et les naturalistes Arabes l'emploient pour désigner les grands vautours" (de Savigny 1809)).
● "41. FALCO.  ...  Nisus.  26. F. cera viridi, pedibus flavis, pectore albo fusco undulato, cauda fasciis nigricantibus. Fn. svec. 68.  Accipiter fringillarius. Gesn. av. 51. Aldr. ornith. l. 5. c. 3. Bell. av. 19. b. Will. ornith. 51. t. 5. Raj. av. 18. Alb. av. 3. p. 4. t. 4. & 1. p. 5. t. 5. femina.  Moscheutus. Aldr. ornith. 345.  Habitat in Europa; Columbis Passeribusque infestus; venatur egregie Alaudas, eoque utimur in aucupiis." (Linnaeus 1758) (Accipiter).

Nisus
● (syn. Accipiter Ϯ Eurasian Sparrowhawk A. nisus) Specific name Falco nisus Linnaeus, 1758; "17. ÉPERVIER, Nisus.  Le bec courbé dès la base; la tête plate en dessus et garnie de plumes; la base du bec recouverte d'une cire; les ailes courtes; la première penne de l'aile, très-courte; le tarse long." (de Lacépède 1799); "{Tête couverte de plumes; cire à la base du bec ....... PLUMICOLLES ..... Faucons ....... Falco ..... {Eperviers.....Nisus." (Cuvier 1800); "Nisus Cuvier, Lec. d'Anal. [sic] Comp., 1, tab. 2, 1800—type, by tautonymy, Falco nisus Linnaeus." (Hellmayr & Conover 1949, XIII, 48).    Var. Nysus.
● (syn. Centropus Ϯ Senegal Coucal C. senegalensis) "98. Een SPERWER, in 't Latyn Nisus.  Een soort van Paradysvogel.  By SEBA. Thes. I. tab. 60. f. 1." (Moehring 1758); "Statt Centropus Illiger (Prodrom. Syst. Mamm. Avium, 1811, S. 205) ist fortan der Name Nisus Moehr. [Gesl. Vogelen, S. 7. u. 69] zu gebrauchen. Dementsprechend ist auch die betreffende Unterfamilie in Nisinae umzutaufen." (Poche 1904).

SUBSPECIES

Eurasian Sparrowhawk (granti)
SCI Name: Accipiter nisus granti
granti
● William Robert Ogilvie-Grant (1863-1924) English ornithologist at BMNH 1882-1918 (subsp. Acanthisitta chloris, subsp. Accipiter nisus, subsp. Aerodramus vanikorensis, syn. Alopecoenas beccarii solomonensis, subsp. Camaroptera chloronota, Horizocerus, syn. Lophura nycthemera, syn. Melaenornis pallida parvus, subsp. Microptilotis mimikae, subsp. Napothera epilepidota, syn. Neocossyphus poensis praepectoralis, Ninox, syn. Oriolus szalayi, syn. Pellorneum ruficeps olivaceum, Penelope, subsp. Ptiloprora plumbea, Ptilopsis, subsp. Rhipidura rufifrons (ex Rhipidura harterti Ogilvie-Grant), subsp. Sericornis spilodera, subsp. Sturnus vulgaris, Sula).
● Capt. Claude Henry Baxter Grant (1878-1958) British ornithologist at BMNH 1898-1903, 1932-1958, in East Africa 1916-1932 (subsp. Bradypterus lopezi, subsp. Crithagra mozambica, subsp. Cyanomitra olivacea, syn. Malimbus malimbicus, subsp. Phoeniculus damarensis, syn. Pyrenestes ostrinus minor, subsp. Sheppardia poensis, subsp. Smutsornis africanus, subsp. Terpsiphone viridis, subsp. Treron delalandii).
● Lt.-Col. James Augustus Grant (1827-1892) British Army, explorer with Speke in East Africa 1860-1863 (syn. Guttera pucherani).
● Robert Grant (1854-1923) Scottish miner and immigrant to Australia 1879, taxidermist at Australian Mus. 1887-1917, collector, explorer (subsp. Paradisaea raggiana).

Eurasian Sparrowhawk (nisus)
SCI Name: Accipiter nisus nisus
nisus
Med. L. nisus  sparrowhawk  < Gr. myth. Nisus, son of Pandion II and king of Megara, who was changed into a hawk after his city had been betrayed to Minos of Crete by his own daughter, Scylla. Scylla was changed into a lark, condemned forever to fly in fear from her father. Some versions of the legend have Nisus metamorphosed into an Osprey (v. Pandion) or a sea eagle, and his treacherous daughter into a fish (cf. "NESR des Égyptiens. Ce mot NESR est un nom générique qui a toujours été traduit par aquila; mais aujourd'hui le peuple et les naturalistes Arabes l'emploient pour désigner les grands vautours" (de Savigny 1809)).
● "41. FALCO.  ...  Nisus.  26. F. cera viridi, pedibus flavis, pectore albo fusco undulato, cauda fasciis nigricantibus. Fn. svec. 68.  Accipiter fringillarius. Gesn. av. 51. Aldr. ornith. l. 5. c. 3. Bell. av. 19. b. Will. ornith. 51. t. 5. Raj. av. 18. Alb. av. 3. p. 4. t. 4. & 1. p. 5. t. 5. femina.  Moscheutus. Aldr. ornith. 345.  Habitat in Europa; Columbis Passeribusque infestus; venatur egregie Alaudas, eoque utimur in aucupiis." (Linnaeus 1758) (Accipiter).

Eurasian Sparrowhawk (wolterstorffi)
SCI Name: Accipiter nisus wolterstorffi
wolterstorffi
Dr Wilhelm Georg Wolterstorff (1864-1943) German zoologist (subsp. Accipiter nisus).

Eurasian Sparrowhawk (punicus)
SCI Name: Accipiter nisus punicus
punicus
L. Punicus Punic, Carthaginian (Carthage = Tunis).

Eurasian Sparrowhawk (nisosimilis)
SCI Name: Accipiter nisus nisosimilis
nisosimilis
Specific name Falco nisus Linnaeus, 1758; L. similis resembling (subsp. Accipiter nisus).

Eurasian Sparrowhawk (melaschistos)
SCI Name: Accipiter nisus melaschistos
melaschistos / melaschistus
L. melas, melanos  black  < Gr. μελας melas, μελανος melanos  black; Late L. schistus  slate  < L. lapis schistos  fissile stone  < Gr. σχιστος skhistos  cloven  < σχιζω skhizō  to split.