Besra (Accipiter virgatus)
About the Besra
The besra (Tachyspiza virgata), also called the besra sparrowhawk, is a bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. It was formerly placed in the genus Accipiter. The name "besra" is from the Hindi word for the species. The besra is a widespread resident breeder in dense forests throughout southern Asia, ranging from the Indian subcontinent eastwards across Southeast Asia and into East Asia. It nests in trees, building a new nest each year. It lays 2 to 5 eggs. It is a medium-sized raptor (29 to 36 cm) with short broad wings and a long tail, both adaptations to fast maneuvering through dense vegetation. The normal flight of this species is a characteristic "flap–flap–glide".
No audio on this page yet
We only publish recordings we may use commercially, because this site is supported by ads. xeno-canto lists 33 recordings for this species: 9 CC BY-NC-SA · 1 CC BY-NC-ND. None of them permits commercial use, so there is no player here — the page is kept as a profile so the bird is not missing from the guide.
As soon as someone uploads a freely licensed recording, we mirror it and the player appears here.
Listed as recorded in China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia in the xeno-canto catalogue.
Related species you can hear
- African GoshawkAccipiter tachirorecording
- Bicolored HawkAccipiter bicolorrecording
- Brown GoshawkAccipiter fasciatusrecording
- Cooper's HawkAccipiter cooperiirecording
- Eurasian SparrowhawkAccipiter nisusrecording
- Northern GoshawkAccipiter gentilisrecording
This species has no recording here yet — these relatives do, so you can hear what the family sounds like.