Sparrowhawk?

Kess73 · 27-08-2007 6:44pm #1

Literally after taking these snaps. Heard a noise out the back near my bird feeders and this chap was snacking on a finch. Pic quality is poor, but the markings can be clearly seen.

Is it a sparrowhawk? Just googled it and it seems to be the bird that looks the closest to it to my eyes.

Is it an unusual bird to see in the city? Am in Limerick.

Alun · 27-08-2007 7:48pm

Yep, that's a sparrowhawk alright. They're not that unusual in suburban gardens.

Nothingcompares · 27-08-2007 8:37pm

nice one good catch.

Kess73 · 28-08-2007 10:41am

Spotted him again today. He flew to a nearby tree yesterday and seemed to almost burrow his way into a nook, and this morning he was flying back into the same spot.

Do I need to report him to anyone as I thought they were a protected species? I noticed that he has no tag or band on his legs.

jmkennedyie · 28-08-2007 5:21pm

Nice one! Actually I think it's a she...females are bigger in size than males and brown in colour. You can compare with the illustrations here: http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/s/sparrowhawk/#

No need to report it anywhere, I understand they and the kestrel are the healthiest populations of birds of prey in the country, so they wouldn't actively be captured and tagged. Just sit back and enjoy the show

colmranger · 28-08-2007 6:23pm

jmkennedyie wrote:

Nice one! Actually I think it's a she...females are bigger in size than males and brown in colour. You can compare with the illustrations here: http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/s/sparrowhawk/#

No need to report it anywhere, I understand they and the kestrel are the healthiest populations of birds of prey in the country, so they wouldn't actively be captured and tagged. Just sit back and enjoy the show

Yes they are fairly common but nevertheless they are fully protected by the Wildlife Acts from any persecution/hunting etc.

Musha · 28-08-2007 8:10pm

I have seen this bird recently in my garden, got two pictures but your quality is better, bwt also in Limerick, sounds like the nest is in one of the trees behind our house judging by the early morning crys from the young.

cmurph · 28-08-2007 10:43pm

i too live in co.limerick and in the field behind my house there is a fort....

in or near there lives a kestrel and sparrow hawk....

the sparrow hawk has made off with a kitten of ours:eek: .....

we see him every day, its a fantastic view to watch them flying and hoovering about looking for their lunch as long as its not my kittens any more!

great pictures by the way

bushy... · 28-08-2007 10:55pm

I think there was an owl around here , heard something that sounded like a squeaky gate , few weeks later no more pigeons , few kittens went missing , and found one of them in bits.

amerden · 29-08-2007 8:25am

cmurph wrote:

the sparrow hawk has made off with a kitten of ours:eek: .....

The Sparrowhawk will not take kittens, their diet is predominantly small birds taken on the wing, would think something else took your kitten, a Kestrel may, if the kitten was very very small, but very unusual.

Kess73 · 29-08-2007 10:41am

Musha wrote:

I have seen this bird recently in my garden, got two pictures but your quality is better, bwt also in Limerick, sounds like the nest is in one of the trees behind our house judging by the early morning crys from the young.

Where in Limerick are you? It is nipping in and out of a tree near me, have being paying more attention since I saw it the first time. There are a pair of birds there, one much smaller than the other.

colmranger · 29-08-2007 5:42pm

This one was in my garden today after my budgies.

He seems to have a very bad foot broken and messed up!

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1415/1267879691_32afdfbbd1_b.jpg

cmurph · 29-08-2007 6:26pm

amerden wrote:

The Sparrowhawk will not take kittens, their diet is predominantly small birds taken on the wing, would think something else took your kitten, a Kestrel may, if the kitten was very very small, but very unusual.

it may well have been the kestrel...its been almost 2 years since it happened

the kittens were young at the time probably only a few weeks and had been taken into the garden by my daughters ,the girls came into the kitchen for a minute and when we went out again the bird was lifting with the kitten in his mouth.....so we saw the bird do it!!

at another time a neighbours kitten went missing and we found the carcass of it in our back yard!
not sure if the kestrel or hawk would do that...maybe it was an owl.....but all we had left was literally the skeleton of the kitten!

dodgyme · 30-08-2007 9:24am

love the pictures:)

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1 · 31-08-2007 2:55pm

cmurph wrote:

it may well have been the kestrel...its been almost 2 years since it happened

Ther is no way on earth a Kestrel could take a kittten!

John Player · 09-09-2007 4:37pm

oh i love watching birds, that one looks especially interesting. was its eyes darting around the place? hmmm the beedyness of them look quite interesting. ill be keeping my eyes peeled for birds in future in the hope that i will experience that beauty, hmmmmmmmm

Monasette · 13-09-2007 11:40am

There is a sparrowhawk that hunts around the housing estates in Knocknacarra/Clybaun Rd area of Galway city. It uses the next door neighbour's tree as a perch (there's a bird feeder hanging from it, and consequently lots of little birds). Link enclosed is to a couple of pictures taken a few months ago when it landed in the back garden. I was only a few yards from the bird and it didn't seem too bothered by my presence.

Years ago, on our farm in Westmeath, a sparrowhawk killed a sparrow just outside our kitchen window. One of our kittens, about 6 months old, drove off the sparrowhawk before scoffing the sparrow. We couldn't believe it - we half expected the hawk to make a meal of the moggie.

John

Kess73 · 05-10-2007 1:23pm

It seems to have become a sparrowhawk hang out since I first spotted the female. Have seen the male quite a few times and the nest turned out to be in a tree behind the house. The young hawk is flying now too, and had him in the garden today. Thought he was the adult male when I first spotted him, then saw both at the same time and there is a size difference and a slight difference in colour too. Anyway here is one of today's visits.