Frances's sparrowhawk was formally described in 1834 by the Scottish zoologist Andrew Smith under the binomial name Accipiter francesii.

Smith designated the type locality as Madagascar and thanked Lady Frances Cole for providing the specimen.

In 2024 a comprehensive molecular phylogenetic study of the Accipitridae confirmed earlier work that had shown that the genus was polyphyletic.

The hawks feed on a range of prey including mammals, birds, lizards, frogs, and large insects.

After these chemicals were banned, the hawks' numbers slowly increased and now it is estimated that more than 32,000 breeding pairs that live throughout Madagascar.

Due to extensive hunting and habitat loss during the 20th century, the Anjouan sparrowhawk became extremely rare by the late 1950s.

[12] Another expedition in 1965 spent 3 days on Ndzuwani without encountering the bird (although no dedicated effort was made, and the sparrowhawk's key habitat was not visited); the authors remarked that other subspecies were "extremely tame".

One individual is seen in the BBC series "Unknown Africa Episode 1: The Comoros" when the film crew is taken to a remnant rain forest patch on Anjouan by the director of Action Comores in search of Livingstone's flying fox.