NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Frances's Sparrowhawk
Tachyspiza francesiae (A. Smith, 1834)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
Frances's sparrowhawk (Tachyspiza francesiae) is a small bird of prey. This species was formerly placed in the genus Accipiter. The nominate subspecies, T. f. francesiae, is endemic to Madagascar, and the other subspecies are found in the Comoro Islands. The Anjouan sparrowhawk (Tachyspiza francesiae pusillus), also known as the Anjouan Island sparrowhawk, Ndzuwani goshawk or Joanna Island goshawk, was thought to be extinct until searches in the 1980s and in 2005 confirmed that it is still extant.
The name "Frances's sparrowhawk" commemorates Lady Frances Cole (died 1847), wife of the Cape Colony governor Galbraith Lowry Cole.
Wikipedia contributors, Frances's sparrowhawk; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T07:49:07.471956+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Tachyspiza francesiae (A. Smith, 1834)
- Name authority
- (A. Smith, 1834)
- Common name
- Frances's Sparrowhawk
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Accipitriformes
- Family
- Accipitridae
- Genus
- Tachyspiza
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classAves
- orderAccipitriformes
- familyAccipitridae Vigors, 1824
- genusTachyspiza Kaup, 1844
- speciesTachyspiza francesiae (A. Smith, 1834)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Tachyspiza. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Variable GoshawkTachyspiza hiogaster (S. Müller, 1841) | AccipitridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Red-thighed SparrowhawkTachyspiza erythropus (Hartlaub, 1855) | AccipitridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Black-mantled GoshawkTachyspiza melanochlamys (Salvadori, 1876) | AccipitridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| ShikraTachyspiza badia (J. F. Gmelin, 1788) | AccipitridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Nicobar SparrowhawkTachyspiza butleri (J. H. Gurney Jr, 1898) | AccipitridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Dwarf SparrowhawkTachyspiza nanus (W. Blasius, 1897) | AccipitridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| New Britain GoshawkTachyspiza princeps (Mayr, 1934) | AccipitridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Imitator GoshawkTachyspiza imitator (E. J. O. Hartert, 1926) | AccipitridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Levant SparrowhawkTachyspiza brevipes (Severtsov, 1850) | AccipitridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Fiji GoshawkTachyspiza rufitorques (Peale, 1849) | AccipitridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Little SparrowhawkTachyspiza minulla (Daudin, 1800) | AccipitridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Accipiter francesiae A. Smith, 1834 A. Smith, 1834 | synonym |
| Accipiter francesii A. Smith, 1834 A. Smith, 1834 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=1253622 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:CVWC6. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.