UKC

Why have I never seen one?

I'm sure I actually have (some of the ones I've seen soaring must have been), but I've never identifiably seen a male sparrowhawk. Whenever I've seen one close enough to sex, it's been a female.

Three times this year I've seen one flash through the front or back garden - all female, and when I think back to any good (enough to determine the sex) views I've had in previous years - again all female.

Any ideas on how I can correct this imbalance - it's becoming annoying.

(I have a similar problem with Merlins)

I reckon if it is eating a sparrow, robin or tit it must be a male, if it's a dove, magpie or pigeon then a female, a blackbird could probably be either. We get both, most recently a male taking a sparrow.

Had a flyby (unsuccessful) attack on a jay the other day - female, male unlikely to try for that big and the fleeting size and slate grey colour impression reinforced female id.

We’ve been lucky this year and had 4 sightings in our garden, 2 male, 2 female.

They had a nest near by in the local park apparently. (One of the advantages of the first lockdown ?)

So I guess for you to get your sighting you need to be near them in breeding/nesting season.

Don’t know, but I’d wager you that when you see a male, you’ll see another male on the same day. 
I see about 50:50. Small and dark slate grey  
= male, larger and grey brown = female. I’ve seen a male regularly perched on rooftops. Stays put for few mins then off. 

Based on what I’ve read, are all juveniles not more like females in colouring and can be surprisingly similar up to about 2yrs? You could therefore be seeing juvenile males at times?

I’m not aware any adult female Sparrowhawks come through my garden, and so I only see males or juveniles (male or female) shoot past. The odd few that stay for enough time to properly see have been all male as far as I’m aware. This would tie in with all the birds I’ve seen taken are small ones like house sparrows.

Slate grey back is a male. Females are larger and browner.

Don't know why I said slate grey cause thinking about it that's too blue, the ones I've seen have definitely been a brown-grey.

I'm sure I have seen  both merlins and hobbys, but hand on heart, they are so small and fast, I don't think I could be certain of either

Had a great view of a female merlin at Flamborough Head earlier this year, sat on a ridge for a couple of minutes and then flew off up a small valley.

Haven't seen a hobby in years (decades actually) - it's on my birds of prey bucket list. Maybe some time I'll go looking seriously.

Hobby’s can look bigger than people think. I reckon they look like a kestrel/swift cross but similar size to a kestrel. Key thing apart from colour etc: the wing shape can be quite angular. 
Edit: Chat-moss: seen daily in spring summer. Check Manchester Birding forum. 
 

Snapped this one in my garden last year.

Depending on where you live, you might not expect to see an even sex ratio. Males and female sparrowhawks have slightly different preferences for hunting habitat: females hunt more in open habitats than the woodland-preferring males.