Sparrowhawk behaviour.

Kess73

Just noticed a slight change in the hunting habits of the pair of sparrowhawks that are nesting out the back of my house.


The first time this happened was on Saturday, but as it has happened twice since then, the latest time being about ten minutes ago, it seems that the female has worked out a new way to get a decent sized meal.

I was putting it down to her being a wonderful opportunist, but today it almost looked as though the male did his part on purpose as I saw his original kill happen and where he went straight away.


What happens is the male gets a kill and flies almost straight away to the front of the house and lands by the driveway. Now this drives the local magpies/jackdaws/starlings mad. The magpie and jackdaw start landing nearby and are cawing away at the male who pretty much starts plucking his catch and ignores them. Now there is a tree out the front at the side of the driveway, and the male always lands near it.

When a jackdaw gets close to him on the ground, and in turn close to this tree, the female bursts out and slams into the jackdaw before it can get off of the ground.

The first time I saw this I thought that it was a lucky bit of coincicence for the female. The second time I thought it odd that the same thing happened only days later. But today it has happened for the third time in five days and is starting to look like a set ambush.

I have never seen anything like this with sparrowhawks before, nor have I ever read anything that was like this.

The female I am used to seeing take down wood pigeons, jackdaws and magpies and pretty much everything smaller, but it is the way the male takes his kill right to where the corvids are during the day that is catching my eye, plus the fact the female had to already be inside the tree.

Could it just be a case that the male knows she is in that area, and lands there as he is safe with her there, or could he be going there with kills becuase he knows that she is there and him being on the ground will bring the corvids down?



As an aside I had the wonderful experience yesterday of seeing five kestrels, one after another, over a 2.5 mile stretch. Each one was in hover mode when I passed them. And when I was close to being under one, I could still just about make out the last one I passed in the distance.Was delighted to see so many within a few miles of my home.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

That's new behaviour on me! If I were you I'd document the dates, times etc and let Birdwatch Irealnd, RSPB, and BTO know. I'm sure they would be interested.
Well done on observing and noting this. Many people watch Nature and never really notice behaviour changes.

E39MSport

Kess73 wrote: »

As an aside I had the wonderful experience yesterday of seeing five kestrels, one after another, over a 2.5 mile stretch. Each one was in hover mode when I passed them. And when I was close to being under one, I could still just about make out the last one I passed in the distance.Was delighted to see so many within a few miles of my home.

I think you have a female Kestrel admirer who's following you

Would be great if you could catch that Sparrowhawk action on camera!!

Valmont

What a great story! I was looking at the pigeons in my garden yesterday and I was thinking "I wish I had a pair of sparrowhawks around like Kess on boards". I did see two grey herons flying overhead though; they are mighty creatures!

ThunderCat

Valmont wrote: »

What a great story! I was looking at the pigeons in my garden yesterday and I was thinking "I wish I had a pair of sparrowhawks around like Kess on boards". I did see two grey herons flying overhead though; they are mighty creatures!

I get collared doves in my garden and they do no harm. Wouldnt begrudge a sparrowhawk its dinner but I wouldnt wish the doves dead either.

Kess73

ThunderCat wrote: »

I get collared doves in my garden and they do no harm. Wouldnt begrudge a sparrowhawk its dinner but I wouldnt wish the doves dead either.

The collared doves are getting an easier time of it here in recent months. There has been a big jump in the number of feral pigeons in the area, and the female sparrowhawk is having a field day with the bigger prey.

She is a bit bigger than the average female sparrowhawk, she would be about the size of a male goshawk, so wood pigeons, feral pigeons, jackdaws and magpies tend to pop up on her menu a lot. She is also very effective in terms of rodents.

I don't know how much longer I will have her around though, as she has been a regular here for a few years now, her size and roosting area making her easy to identify, and I would put this as the third summer of her being an active hunter around my garden, so she was most likely born the summer before that. At four years of age she would be beating the average in terms of lifespan for a sparrowhawk. I put thios down to her larger than average size and the fact the area has always had a healthy population of prey.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

While the RSPB quotes an average life expectancy of 2.7 years for a Sparrowhawk, they can live as long as 10 years. Yours has a good home, plenty of food. Lots of years left in her.

Kess73

Talon Gorgeous Arrow wrote: »

That's new behaviour on me! If I were you I'd document the dates, times etc and let Birdwatch Irealnd, RSPB, and BTO know. I'm sure they would be interested.
Well done on observing and noting this. Many people watch Nature and never really notice behaviour changes.

I tend to pay attention as I am doing two tetrads in for the 2007-2011 Bird Atlas, so any activity near me gets noticed quickly.


I have passed on what I have seen, but was just curious if anyone here had seen anything similar.

Kess73

Talon Gorgeous Arrow wrote: »

While the RSPB quotes an average life expectancy of 2.7 years for a Sparrowhawk, they can live as long as 10 years. Yours has a good home, plenty of food. Lots of years left in her.

Her roosting and nesting area is pretty safe as well as to get to it, a person would have to come across my property.

Velvet shank

Maybe of interest or perhaps already well known within the birding fraternity?.....Came across some stuff yesterday about a Dr. Louis Lefebvre who has invented an 'avian intellegence index' based on feeding innovations observed in birds. Data seems to consist mostly of observations sent to him by birders from around the world..

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/02/050223163906.htm