A Sparrow Hawk came to dinner

Judgement Day

I have nothing against feral pigeons per se but I have no desire to live amongst them and have been waging a futile war to drive them away from the house -until tonight. A larger feathered friend has joined the fray. I noticed him (her actually) in the area yesterday on a high vantage point - the garda station radio mast - and tonight she came to dinner. A fine specimen of female Sparrow Hawk. Sorry for the very poor pictures, taken through a grubby glass and wire window, but you get the point. She was very close to me - ten feet or so - but I tried to keep out of sight less she abandon her well earned meal. Checking up on Sparrow Hawks in my ancient Readers Digest guide, I see that she was going by the book in taking a pigeon while the far smaller male makes do with small birds and rodents.

E39MSport

Nice shots - thanks ! Did you get to see her make the kill ?

Half-cocked

I've one that passes through but doesn't stop to deal with my ferals:mad: Great pics.

Judgement Day

E39MSport wrote: »

Nice shots - thanks ! Did you get to see her make the kill ?

No I missed the kill which, strangely enough, happened 24 hours earlier and the hawk must have been scared off by something as she only returned to dine last night.

Arpa

Just saw one down the back of my garden. Wasn't sure what it was at first because I've never seen one before. It had bright plumage on it's front and really stark orange rings around it's eyes. Thought it was just a weird bird plucking worms until I got the binoculars and saw it was plucking a pigeon and munching away. Was pretty cool, beautiful looking bird. Nice to know he's in the area. I presume it's a he because I read somewhere the female doesn't leave the nest around this time of year. Unforunately, a bloody magpie dropped in to see what was going on and kind of scared it away a few feet. The sparrow hawk retired to a wall, while the magpie hopped over to look at the carcass. It was comical as the magpie almost looked like it had just realised it was a dead bird, then looked back at the sparrow hawk, then back to the kill and decided to feck off. Didn't think a sparrow hawk would be scared off a kill by a magpie, but then when I went to inspect the area there were just feathers so I presume he had either finished or took it with him. Will keep an eye out for him, kind of proud he chose my garden to have a snack.
Would be interesting to keep tabs on the population. I'm in the Walkinstown area of Dublin, to the OP, where did you see yours? Where else has there been sightings?

Morganna

great pics .

Kess73

Arpa wrote: »

Just saw one down the back of my garden. Wasn't sure what it was at first because I've never seen one before. It had bright plumage on it's front and really stark orange rings around it's eyes. Thought it was just a weird bird plucking worms until I got the binoculars and saw it was plucking a pigeon and munching away. Was pretty cool, beautiful looking bird. Nice to know he's in the area. I presume it's a he because I read somewhere the female doesn't leave the nest around this time of year. Unforunately, a bloody magpie dropped in to see what was going on and kind of scared it away a few feet. The sparrow hawk retired to a wall, while the magpie hopped over to look at the carcass. It was comical as the magpie almost looked like it had just realised it was a dead bird, then looked back at the sparrow hawk, then back to the kill and decided to feck off. Didn't think a sparrow hawk would be scared off a kill by a magpie, but then when I went to inspect the area there were just feathers so I presume he had either finished or took it with him. Will keep an eye out for him, kind of proud he chose my garden to have a snack.
Would be interesting to keep tabs on the population. I'm in the Walkinstown area of Dublin, to the OP, where did you see yours? Where else has there been sightings?

Not like a sprawk to be seen off by a single magpie. The female sprawk nesting near me has killed magpie and some of the other corvids here. She is a fab bird to watch and is a bit bigger than average, making her stand out a bit.

Feral pigeons and woodpigeons are her normal prey here, but she gets a fair share of jackdaws, starlings and collared doves too.

Even her male, despite his much smaller frame when compared to the female, will stand his ground with his catch when the local magpies try to mob him.

Judgement Day

My encounter was in urban Enniscorthy and, while not an uncommon bird, it is unusual to get close to them at a kill.

Kess73

Judgement Day wrote: »

My encounter was in urban Enniscorthy and, while not an uncommon bird, it is unusual to get close to them at a kill.

I have been close to a good number of kills over the years and the male is prone to the odd game of hide and seek with me when he is trying to stay in the garden when I am out there. I have literally gotten to within a couple of feet of him, with him staying perfectly still in the hedge. Other times I have come across him by accident and when that happens I don't know who gets the biggest shock, as he tears out of the hedge or tree and tries to avoid me when I have unwittingly come too close.:D


I have also woken up one morning to the pleasant sight of him plucking a kill on my bedroom windowsill.

Even on days when I see no kills, I normally see one or both of them as the nest is in a tree behind my house, so their comings and goings are a regular sight.


Whilst the sight of a fresh kill may seem gruesome to some, the best way to look at regular visits or sightings of sparrowhawks is that it is a sign of a thriving bird population in that area.

patbundy

seen this on another site so if the mods dont mind

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=5fb_1271801243

Arpa

Kess73 wrote: »

Not like a sprawk to be seen off by a single magpie. The female sprawk nesting near me has killed magpie and some of the other corvids here. She is a fab bird to watch and is a bit bigger than average, making her stand out a bit.

Feral pigeons and woodpigeons are her normal prey here, but she gets a fair share of jackdaws, starlings and collared doves too.

Even her male, despite his much smaller frame when compared to the female, will stand his ground with his catch when the local magpies try to mob him.

Yeah that's what I figured. I presume he/she...don't have a clue really...was already finished and full up so decided just to back away. There is literally nothing left on the kill spot on my lawn only feathers. I was literally stunned watching it. Something inherently cool about a bird like that. It's shape was so menacing compared to the other birds I see around the garden. Is there any way to attract it back? I mean there's loads of birds in my garden a good few nests. Robins, sparrows, blackbirds, wood pigeon and collared dove. Would like to try get some footage next time, he was pretty feckin cool looking.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Arpa wrote: »

There is literally nothing left on the kill spot on my lawn only feathers.

In that case, the carcass was already removed. Probably the reason both birds left.

VERYinterested

I unwittingly saved a bird from a Sparrowhawk on Sunday! I was getting something out of the shed and when I came out two or three birds (Goldfinches and Siskins) were being pursued by a Sparrowhawk about my head height. You could smell the fear and panic, just as I emerged from the shed she pulled up and out of the kill, I was two feet away from the action! She landed down the end of the garden on my neighbour's shed roof and I could almost hear hear curse me! They really are a spectacular bird, great to see them in action.

Kess73

Arpa wrote: »

Yeah that's what I figured. I presume he/she...don't have a clue really...was already finished and full up so decided just to back away. There is literally nothing left on the kill spot on my lawn only feathers. I was literally stunned watching it. Something inherently cool about a bird like that. It's shape was so menacing compared to the other birds I see around the garden. Is there any way to attract it back? I mean there's loads of birds in my garden a good few nests. Robins, sparrows, blackbirds, wood pigeon and collared dove. Would like to try get some footage next time, he was pretty feckin cool looking.

If there is a steady supply of prey in your area, then the hawk will return. Chances are that the hawk has been many times without you spotting it at all.

As for telling the diff between he and she.

The male is much smaller, often a third or more smaller than the female, with a greyish colour to his back and from the front he has more colour on the edges of his breast and on his head, usually tinges of orange/red.


The female is much bigger, and is brown at the back and drabber at the front.


Here is my regular female (and what was left of a big woodpigeon)

[IMG][/img]




Here is the current male. He came in through an open house window before whilst chasing a smaller bird. Let's just say that getting him out of a kitchen unharmed was quite a job.:D At close quarters they are fierce fighters. You can clearly see his colour around the face and the grey on his wings/back in the pics though.


[IMG][/img]



And here is his filthy look a minute or so after being taken from the kitchen and set free outside.


[IMG][/img]

Judgement Day

Not as good as my pics....:p

Morganna

great pics

Arpa

Kess73 wrote: »

If there is a steady supply of prey in your area, then the hawk will return. Chances are that the hawk has been many times without you spotting it at all.

As for telling the diff between he and she.

Here is the current male. He came in through an open house window before whilst chasing a smaller bird. Let's just say that getting him out of a kitchen unharmed was quite a job.:D At close quarters they are fierce fighters. You can clearly see his colour around the face and the grey on his wings/back in the pics though.

Wouldn't have liked to be in the kitchen with that bloke. It was definately a male that I saw in that case. The orange colour around the neck. Plus there were no really defined brown stripes on the breast like the female.
Yeah he probably has been loads of times, but whenever I'm home I'm usually in the kitchen which overlooks the garden, bird heaven, so I'm hoping he'll come again. When I said about attracting them back I did a bit of googling. I was thinking like a bigger water table or something, but then I see people have meat baits set out which is really not on. Plus the meat can be poisoned, didn't think this kind of crap went on in Ireland. Well Mr or Mrs Sparrow Hawk are welcome to hunt here when they please, as long as they don't disturb my summer barbies. Cheers kess.

Del.Monte

Six years on and history repeats itself in almost the identical location - give or take 10 feet. Don't know where my JD's original pictures have gone though?



Same performance today. Kill must have taken place in the early hours this morning (pre-7am) and most of the carcass remained until 2.30pm when a fine female Sparrowhawk arrived and dined with a vengeance. Earlier on the other pigeons were giving their erstwhile mate a wide berth but a cheeky Starling had no hesitation in diving in for some nice soft feathers.

Sorry for the dire picture - the years have moved on but I still have the same crap pocket camera. I'll splash out some day.