It occurs mainly in forest and non-desert areas south of the Sahara, particularly where there are large trees suitable for nesting; favored habitat includes suburban and human-altered landscapes.

The "black morph" variety is generally rare,[2][5][6] except along the coastal regions of South Africa, including the Cape Peninsula where they constitute 80% of the population.

[7][8] (Black sparrowhawks do not occur more than about 200–300 km north of Cape Town along the South African west coast, where there are almost no trees.)

The full plumage of juveniles is a range of browns and russets with dark streaks along the head and, more conspicuously, down the chest.

[2] The brown plumage being a sign of immaturity, it does not attract as dangerously aggressively territorial behavior as a mature black-and-white bird would.

[2] The black sparrowhawk is one of the world's largest hawks, only the Henst's, Meyer's and Eurasian goshawk can match or exceed its size.

[16] Black sparrowhawks are relatively widespread and common in sub-Saharan Africa and listed as not globally threatened by CITES.

[6] On the Cape Peninsula, however, in the southwestern corner of South Africa, the nest are typically only 500 m (550 yds) apart in the pine plantations and other continuous or semi-continuous belts of trees.

[2] They naturally inhabit patches of forest, rich woodlands and riverine strips extending into dry bush areas.

Especially in southern Africa, black sparrowhawks have adapted to stands of the non-indigenous eucalyptus, poplar, and pine, all of which are grown commercially and are able to grow up to 15 m (49 ft) taller than native trees.

[3] This results in a costly loss for the sparrowhawks after the time and energy spent building the nest and may also lead to the death of current offspring.

[3] Following a south and westwards range expansion of black sparrowhawks in South Africa, they also colonised the urban and suburban areas of Cape Town where they have thrived in the 21st century, with none of the expected negative impacts on their health that might have been expected from the disturbances associated with a novel climate (from a subtropical, summer rainfall regimen to a Mediterranean, winter rainfall region), or other possible sources of stress in their newly urbanised environments.

This is probably due to the abundance of prey, mainly various species of Columbidae (the wide variety of pigeons and doves) in these urban areas, and, therefore, their lack of nutritional stress.

[19] Males make short, sharp "keeyp" contact calls when arriving with prey, to which the females respond with lower pitched "kek" sounds.

[3] It is, in fact, one of the species that have been able to adapt to a changing habitat due to afforestation and urbanization by taking advantage of the increase in dove and pigeon populations.

[3] With some regularity, they prey on other raptor species, including shikra, Ovambo sparrowhawk, African goshawk and wood owl.

[24] A nesting pair will mate regularly throughout the breeding season, starting during courtship and continuing till after the chicks have fledged.

[9][10] The newly hatched chicks are semialtricial in that they are fully covered in white down feathers but cannot leave the nest since they rely on the parents for food, warmth, and protection.

[25] In the Cape Peninsula, South Africa, they are also known to build multiple nests in a season, and this behaviour is thought to be an adaptation to dealing with usurpation by Egyptian Geese.