Kestrel Attack

E39MSport

The birds that visit my garden now have to watch out for the local Kestrel as well as the sparrowhaowks. Usually they are indifferent to Kestrels but one attacked yesterday. The freeze must have impacted the population of its usual prey.

Kestrel was unsuccessful btw.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

And will be unsuccessful most of the time - even more so than when hunting small mammals.


Desperate times call for desperate measures!

boneless

A few years back I saw a kestrel crash into a hedge to dislodge a few blue tits. It was not sucessful either but I wonder if this is learned behaviour?

Kess73

Must be a very hungry kestrel to be trying to catch garden birds. Normally the only time when a kestrel has much luck catching garden birds is during the breeding season when there are lots of fledglings about.


Interesting that Boneless had one in his garden crashing into the hedge to scare the blue tits into the open. That is a behaviour that is very common to sparrowhawks, but I have never seen it from a kestrel.

I would be curious to know if what Boneless saw was the action of a desperate bird, or if indeed it is something that others has seen kestrel do on a regular basis.

E39MSport

That's more or less what happened at mine. The Kestrel rushed the bushes to raise the birds. It worked but he didn't catch anything. The same Kestrel (I think) plucked a fledgling swallow from a shed roof last Summer. Maybe he/she has a taste for it now. I reckon it was the freeze though. Haven't seen any rats on the side of the road like I normally would around the area.

On that note, I wouldn't be too disappointed if there was a large decline in the rat population. There seemed to be far too many last Summer and Winter.

jmkennedyie

Don't wish the rats away just yet. Lots of rats is good news for the local buzzards, which seemed to do well in North Kildare in the last year. Nature will find a balance if we give it a chance

E39MSport

I wish they'd snatch the kangaroo of a rat in my garden that visits the feeders....

Kess73

Sparrowhawks are really good at getting rid of rats. With luck one will be in the area when your rat comes back.

I had a rat that was proving impossible to catch a few months ago, it was avoiding humane traps for two weeks, but it made the mistake of coming to the middle of my lawn during the day, and was hit by the big female sparrowhawk that roosts near the house, who dispatched the rat in no time.

E39MSport

Here he/she is. Out of focus.

Kess73

E39MSport wrote: »

Here he/she is. Out of focus.

Nice bird. They always look a real cutie of a bird. They just don't look as much of a killer as the likes of the sparrowhawk do.

Mind you, there won't be any mice standing around going "awww look at the cute bird"