noun: The Eurasian sparrowhawk, Accipiter nisus, a small, short-winged European hawk that preys on smaller birds.
noun: (falconry) A female such bird, a male being a musket.
noun: Any of numerous other relatively small Old World species of Accipiter, that prey on smaller birds or otherwise resemble A. nisus.
noun: Alternative form of sparrow hawk; the American kestrel, Falco sparverius, of similar size and habit. [The American kestrel or American sparrowhawk (Falco sparverius), a small falcon found in North and South America that preys on grasshoppers and small animals.]