Little Sparrowhawk

SCI Name:  Accipiter minullus
Protonym:  Falco minullus TraitedOrn.[Daudin] 2 p.88
Taxonomy:  Accipitriformes / Accipitridae / Accipiter
Taxonomy Code:  litspa1
Type Locality:  Gamtoos River, Cape Province.
Author:  Daudin
Publish Year:  1800
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.

minula / minulla / minullum / minullus / minulus
Mod. L. minulus  very small  < Med. L. minulus  small letter  < L. minusculus  rather small  < dim. minor  smaller  < comp. parvus  small.
● ex “Minulle” of Levaillant 1798, pl. 34 (Accipiter).