Male Sparrowhawk (was - What kind of bird is this (Dublin city))

Birdnuts

Mickeroo wrote: »

I'm from more the achill area, land is a bit more open up erris way, might suit them more?

I think it depends on the density of prey - Erris has a great mix of habitats that attracts big numbers of waders, wildfowl and other species. Achill while good, doesn't probably support as much, though the likes of Peregrine and Merlin should be present. Ballycroy is meant to be a good place for various raptors too. Achill use to support a good population of both species of eagles as recently as the end of the 19th centuary. Hopefully we'll see those days again sometime soon.:)

Mickeroo

Birdnuts wrote: »

I think it depends on the density of prey - Erris has a great mix of habitats that attracts big numbers of waders, wildfowl and other species. Achill while good, doesn't probably support as much, though the likes of Peregrine and Merlin should be present. Ballycroy is meant to be a good place for various raptors too. Achill use to support a good population of both species of eagles as recently as the end of the 19th centuary. Hopefully we'll see those days again sometime soon.:)

Aye would love to see eagles nesting here again. They've been sighted a few times around the area but don't think any have taken up residence.

Saw peregrines when i was hill walking in ballycroy alright!

Tiercel Dave

Kess73 wrote: »

My first instinct was that it was a small collared dove, which many people would mistake as a pigeon, as the darker feathers in the pile do look like those on the tail and wings of those doves, and the feathers with the grey/blue tinges looks like the feathers on a dove's underwing patch.


Prey was even smaller than that, look at the amount of 'downy' feathers in comparison to the size of the Hawk, and look at the few primaries or tail feathers present, they're only about a third the length of the Spar's tail. Dave

swifts need our help!

By reading the behaviour of starlings, feral pigeons, rooks, jackdaws and gulls I know when my sparrowhawks are about.

Starlings fly up en masse to meet the sparrowhawk.
Corvids fly up also but its usually a brave one that mobs the s'hawk.
Feral pigeons rise but fly around in a bit of a panic.

Mark

stupidusername

swifts need our help! wrote: »

By reading the behaviour of starlings, feral pigeons, rooks, jackdaws and gulls I know when my sparrowhawks are about.

Starlings fly up en masse to meet the sparrowhawk.
Corvids fly up also but its usually a brave one that mobs the s'hawk.
Feral pigeons rise but fly around in a bit of a panic.

Mark

this is a thing I noticed about pigeons, they'll often enough take off in a group, fly about together, swerving about, and then settle back to where they were before. I'm not sure, but I think it tends to be in the evenings, any idea what this is about? when I saw it at first I assumed it was a sprawk or some predator, but they do it so much, and I've never seen any predator at those times, so I've no idea what it's about.

mattjack

Picture 079.jpgI snapped a very poor pic of what I think is a sparrowhawk recently, saw it kill a feral pigeon and pick it up and fly a short distance.

Kess73

Tiercel Dave wrote: »

Prey was even smaller than that, look at the amount of 'downy' feathers in comparison to the size of the Hawk, and look at the few primaries or tail feathers present, they're only about a third the length of the Spar's tail. Dave

I think you are right there, good spot. I dug up some more of my own pics to see the final circle from a taken collared dove (the aftermath of the pics of my regular female that I put up) and the circle looks a lot different to what is in the OP's pic. I am way way off with my first guess methinks, and am thinking of a smaller passerine. The blue tinges are what threw me, and to be honest the blue should really have pointed me towards a smaller passerine like a great tit or blue tit but some of the scattered feathers look wrong to be either although I do need to be thinking scale when I look at the picture as it is such a vivid shot it gives the impression the sprawk is a bigger bird than they actually are and as such I was reading the scattered feathers with the same incorrect scale going through my head.

I find it much easier to tell what was taken by a sprawk when I can walk over and pick up a few feathers to examine whenever I come across a plucking patch on the ground, then from looking at a 2D photo.

Kess73

mattjack wrote: »

Picture 079.jpgI snapped a very poor pic of what I think is a sparrowhawk recently, saw it kill a feral pigeon and pick it up and fly a short distance.

Looks like a female.

Scrappychimow

stupidusername wrote: »

this is a thing I noticed about pigeons, they'll often enough take off in a group, fly about together, swerving about, and then settle back to where they were before. I'm not sure, but I think it tends to be in the evenings, any idea what this is about? when I saw it at first I assumed it was a sprawk or some predator, but they do it so much, and I've never seen any predator at those times, so I've no idea what it's about.

The pigeons probably heard a bird calling and mistook it for an alarm call , I saw some do it the other day when they heard a seagull screech , there must be a hawk in the area if they are on edge though .

Dubwat

stupidusername wrote: »

would love to know your location OP, would be great to see one in action up here. When I was in limerick, I used to feed pigeons from my apartment, and because they hung around the same place all the time, a sparrow hawk appeared every so often. only ever saw him twice, I'd have expected him to be bigger, considering the size in comparison to its prey, but yeah they do eat pigeons.

The nearest landmark that everybody would know would be the Botanic Gardens. Having said that, I only posted the photo because it was a once-off event for me. I haven't seen him/her since...

But I'm lucky in that the area I live in wasn't over-run with apartments etc during the boom so there is still a lot of pockets of wilderness remaining. There's a railway line, the Royal canal and a big graveyard near me.

In addition, Dunsink dump/future nature reserve (lol) and the Phoenix Park are not a million miles away from me as well.

Dubwat

Kess73 wrote: »

Actually suburban and city areas are pretty good spots to see raptors. Sprawks thrive in housing estates as well as in the countryside, and Peregrine falcons do very well in cities thanks to big feral pigeon populations.

Just to add a bit more info on my situation.

The houses are 3 stories high and the housing estate is quite mature. So there's lots of trees, bushes and shrubs in the back gardens. Probably everybody feeds the birds somehow.

There's maybe a 20 metre gap between the houses and the 'valley' is maybe 1km long...

So I guess it would be a perfect hunting ground for a sparrowhawk to fly above the 'valley', spot his victim, and swoop down for the kill. There would be few escape avenues...

Having said that, it's odd that I haven't seen it happen before? Maybe the sparrowhawk is new to the area. Because the pigeons (or doves?) were carrying on as normal today...

mattjack

Dubwat wrote: »

Just to add a bit more info on my situation.

The houses are 3 stories high and the housing estate is quite mature. So there's lots of trees, bushes and shrubs in the back gardens. Probably everybody feeds the birds somehow.

There's maybe a 20 metre gap between the houses and the 'valley' is maybe 1km long...

So I guess it would be a perfect hunting ground for a sparrowhawk to fly above the 'valley', spot his victim, and swoop down for the kill. There would be few escape avenues...

Having said that, it's odd that I haven't seen it happen before? Maybe the sparrowhawk is new to the area. Because the pigeons (or doves?) were carrying on as normal today...

What you describe there as a "valley" is very similar to where I saw the pigeon being killed.A small green area with a few trees ,surrounded by apartments and high buildings,all three and four stories high.In Cork street...of all places.

Kess73

Dubwat wrote: »

Just to add a bit more info on my situation.

The houses are 3 stories high and the housing estate is quite mature. So there's lots of trees, bushes and shrubs in the back gardens. Probably everybody feeds the birds somehow.

There's maybe a 20 metre gap between the houses and the 'valley' is maybe 1km long...

So I guess it would be a perfect hunting ground for a sparrowhawk to fly above the 'valley', spot his victim, and swoop down for the kill. There would be few escape avenues...

Having said that, it's odd that I haven't seen it happen before? Maybe the sparrowhawk is new to the area. Because the pigeons (or doves?) were carrying on as normal today...

Not odd at all that you did not see it before. Sprawks are excellent ambush hunters. They generally find a vantage point that hides them and they wait for the right moment to strike. They are also a very patient bird once they are in their ambush point if they know that potential prey are nearby. I have often spent up to an hour just watching my regular male sitting in one of his little hideaways as he watches the house sparrows move from area to area. They are capable of flying above and swooping down after prey, but that is not usually how they hunt and they are nowhere near as efficient hunting that way as they are as an ambush predator as they are not designed for long chases or open area hunting.They are built to hunt in confined areas where their acceleration and frankly amazing agility come into play.

The sprawk you saw could be new to the area and was checking out a new territory, but it is much more likely that he, along with others before him, are not a new to your area and have been hunting away. Just think about the attack that you came upon the aftermath of. If you looked at the spot where the sprawk was 20 minutes earlier or 20 minutes later you would not have seen the hawk and have never known he was there. I would suggest that where you live is part of the territory that he patrols and you were lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time to see him.

You might see him dozens of times after this, or you may never see him again, but the one thing you can be sure of is that you have a sprawk presence where you live. What you saw with your own eyes and your lovely picture prove that.

fryup

would a sparrowhawk attack a magpie or crow??

jmkennedyie

Yes...particuarly female sparrowhawks, vs. young crows...but can be a struggle.

Video of sparrowhawk dispatching a magpie. I believe that Crows (such as magpie) are the most intelligent birds but this sparrowhawk isn't stupid.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0Ycdt-agOA

fred funk }{

jmkennedyie wrote: »

Yes...particuarly female sparrowhawks, vs. young crows...but can be a struggle.

Video of sparrowhawk dispatching a magpie. I believe that Crows (such as magpie) are the most intelligent birds but this sparrowhawk isn't stupid.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0Ycdt-agOA

Great video. Do you reckon the Sparrow hawk knew to drown the Magpie or did they just happen to end up in the pond?

Kess73

fred funk }{ wrote: »

Great video. Do you reckon the Sparrow hawk knew to drown the Magpie or did they just happen to end up in the pond?

It happens too often that a sprawk will try to hold the head of a corvid under water or into mud for it to be a coincidence.

They will do it with corvids and wood pigeons if there is a source of water about that is at least a few inches in depth. There are a number of videos on youtube and elsewhere showing different sprawks doing the same thing to finish off another bird.

fred funk }{

Interesting stuff. I wonder, is it an instinctual thing or is it intelligence?

Kess73

fred funk }{ wrote: »

Interesting stuff. I wonder, is it an instinctual thing or is it intelligence?

A bit of both would be my guess. They are a very good bird in terms of being able to adapt to situations and are excellent at changing tactics mid-hunt when one tactic is not working.

Attempting to drown a corvid is a smart strategy as it takes the strong beak of the corvid out of the fight, and weakens the corvid on two fronts, one being the sprawk that is on top of it using it's body weight to press down, the second battle front being the intake of water rather than oxygen into the lungs which would disorientate/weaken.

I have seen a female sprawk kill jackdaws and magpies without drowning (as there was no water present for that strategy to be used) but it is certainly a higher risk fight for the sprawk without the drowning option. Once there is water present be it a shallow pond, a puddle, a birdbath etc., then a sprawk will readily try to use it against strong prey.