Sparrowhawk

dodderangler

Im livin in Dublin and have seen only one chasin a pigeon through the woods
I love them and I think their gorgeous looking birds
I've seen kites and buzzards and kestrels and owls but no sparrowhawk
If anyone knows where they are could you tell me I'd love to watch them for a while as got new camera so wanna watch them
I do a lot of falconry with my Harris hawk but I'd love to see them hunt

Birdnuts

Theres at least one pair in St Annes park opposite Bull Island. Indeed any of the city parks are good for this species including Phoenix, Marley etc. As you probably know yourself DE ,with Sprawks its often down to chance given their tendancy to stick to dense cover and not to stay out in the open for too long soaring etc. unlike buzzards, kites

PS: Actually at this time of year they are somewhat easier to locate as the young are starting to fledge and can make a right old racket when the adult returns with food. I came across one such site a week or 2 back and got good views of 2 youngsters - probably moved on by now though.

jellybaby21

Here you go,in the middle of my housing estate eating a racing pigeon.
Sorry about the pic its on my phone

dodderangler

Seen that pic from the forum Wayne how did ya manage t get so close to it
I seen one in blessington last year and it had a wild pigeon killed when I reversed back it flew up in a tree and came back down when I went on drivin

Ape Owners

usually once or twice a week ,one flys down through my garden,nesting down on land behind my house. wanna be very careful about disclosing nest locations on an open forum,just remember that not all people like bops.

jellybaby21

dodderangler wrote: »

Seen that pic from the forum Wayne how did ya manage t get so close to it
I seen one in blessington last year and it had a wild pigeon killed when I reversed back it flew up in a tree and came back down when I went on drivin

I was able to stay low behind some bushes to take the pic.I know where there is a nest site but I'd say the young have well fledged by now.

WildIreland

A bit of a way from Dublin, but see sprawks regularly around West Cork -- this time of year it's easier to spot them, because the swallows go mental as soon as one enters local airspace.

Here's a striking male that turned up in the garden recently causing utter pandemonium:


Sparrowhawk by Ireland's Wildlife, on Flickr


Sparrowhawk by Ireland's Wildlife, on Flickr

dodderangler

Great pics there mate lucky you
I went on the hunt yesterday for one and all I seen was bout 6 buzzards and what looked like a raven sittin on a post

Scrappychimow

I chased one out of my garden last week . it had just captured a house sparrow from a bush in my garden , the sparrow was screaming for his life in the hawks talons ,i clapped my hands and ran for the hawk and it let go of the sparrow in flight.The sparrow got up off the ground after a few seconds and went back into the bush, while the angry hawk circled above for a few moments and the went elsewhere for its supper . :cool:

OpenYourEyes

Scrappychimow wrote: »

I chased one out of my garden last week . it had just captured a house sparrow from a bush in my garden , the sparrow was screaming for his life in the hawks talons ,i clapped my hands and ran for the hawk and it let go of the sparrow in flight.The sparrow got up off the ground after a few seconds and went back into the bush, while the angry hawk circled above for a few moments and the went elsewhere for its supper . :cool:

Why the preference for a sparrow over a sparrowhawk?

Scrappychimow

OpenYourEyes wrote: »

Why the preference for a sparrow over a sparrowhawk?

Because I like the little guys around the garden , plenty of food elsewhere for the hawk.

OpenYourEyes

Scrappychimow wrote: »

Because I like the little guys around the garden , plenty of food elsewhere for the hawk.

Theres a lot more food around for the sparrows, and its a lot more accessible for them too!

Obviously its a matter of opinion as to which you prefer, but my own opinion would be that I'd rather see the sparrowhawk get a meal because they're much rarer, invest a lot more energy in trying to get each meal, suffer more persecution etc.

Scrappychimow

OpenYourEyes wrote: »

Theres a lot more food around for the sparrows, and its a lot more accessible for them too!

Obviously its a matter of opinion as to which you prefer, but my own opinion would be that I'd rather see the sparrowhawk get a meal because they're much rarer, invest a lot more energy in trying to get each meal, suffer more persecution etc.

I know sparrowhawks are nice,rare birds. But the little sparrows in my garden are regulars , they come right up to my back door looking for food.Thats why i saved one.

Kess73

Scrappychimow wrote: »

I chased one out of my garden last week . it had just captured a house sparrow from a bush in my garden , the sparrow was screaming for his life in the hawks talons ,i clapped my hands and ran for the hawk and it let go of the sparrow in flight.The sparrow got up off the ground after a few seconds and went back into the bush, while the angry hawk circled above for a few moments and the went elsewhere for its supper . :cool:

Strong chance that the sparrowhawk had done enough internal damage at that point to the sparrow that the smaller bird may not have made it to the next day. Sparrowhawks tend to kill smaller prey by squeezing them (the prey that does not die upon impact that is) with the outer toe and the middle toe being the ones that do the most damage.

As soon as the sprawk has locked onto a sparrow or similar sized bird, it has started to knead the smaller bird and the sharp talons can have massive internal damage done in a second.

They rarely use their bill to kill a smaller bird, preferring to use the bill for feather plucking and pulling prey apart. They only time the beak really comes into play in terms of killing prey is when the sprawk has brought down something large, and in those cases it is often the feather plucking and pulling apart that finishes off the larger prey.


Like yourself, I tend to favour the smaller birds over the sprawks at times, but anytime I see any of my regular sprawks with a catch, I never disturb them as all that means is the bird they had caught will most likely go away to die, and another bird will be caught and killed in it's place.


Take the sight of the sparrowhawk as an indication of how healthy the garden bird population is near you.


As an aside, I have noticed my regular male getting fond of catching bats, and he seems to be able to catch them a lot easier than some of the smaller garden birds.

santasbird

I hadnt seen my regular sparrowhawk in a few weeks, but standing at the kitchen window today, heard the usual panic sounds from the sparrows and there was the sparrowhawk, standing in the garden with a bird in its talons.

My instinct was to bang on the window to frighten him away, but as Kess73 says, I could see the damage was being done before my eyes by the way he was holding onto it. The sparrowhawk just stood still for about a min then took off with it. Beautiful looking bird. I've an awful feeling that it was one of my dunnocks. He had been feeding in the same place a few mins earlier.

Scrappychimow

What actually happened was ,as you say i heard the sparrows frantically chattering , i knew something was up i ran out and the hawk had just entered the bush , there was rustling i ran towards the bush and he came out of it , i clapped my hands loud and it dropped the sparrow , it didn't look like he actually had a proper grip of it , so if damage was done, as Kess said ,the talon may have pierced him. But it seemed to fly back into the bush ok .

dodderangler

You know that sparrowhawks only hunt to eat not for a laugh so it was hungry and spent its energy to catch that sparrow and you chased it away So it goes off hungry and no energy to hunt again possible of chicks aswell if they Havint fledged and also that sparrow can be guaranteed dead just ciz it flew off don't mean it was ok
Leave nature the way it's intended to be
Seriously that's just ridiculous
Plenty of sparrows around an always will but a sparrowhawk comes along and you chase it off

Scrappychimow

dodderangler wrote: »

You know that sparrowhawks only hunt to eat not for a laugh so it was hungry and spent its energy to catch that sparrow and you chased it away So it goes off hungry and no energy to hunt again possible of chicks aswell if they Havint fledged and also that sparrow can be guaranteed dead just ciz it flew off don't mean it was ok
Leave nature the way it's intended to be
Seriously that's just ridiculous
Plenty of sparrows around an always will but a sparrowhawk comes along and you chase it off

How about you mind your own business ? I already explained the reason for it , it's not like i go out into the wild and pursue it as a hobby is it.

whyulittle

Alright enough, everyone has had their say. No more.

Scrappychimow

The local sprawk flew close by my house this evening with a starling in her talons that she got from a neighbors garden, and let out a call as it was passing by . ( must have been insulting me!) :cool:

dodderangler

Scrappychimow wrote: »

The local sprawk flew close by my house this evening with a starling in her talons that she got from a neighbors garden, and let out a call as it was passing by . ( must have been insulting me!) :cool:

Probably tellin you that you weren't stopping her from eatin this bird

Mothman

Mod Note Another one!
lets get this thread back to a civil discussion like practically every other thread here in Nature.
Plenty of posts have been deleted.
Do not discuss about whether to chase Sparrowhawks away or not in this thread

Please respect differing viewpoints such as those wanting to protect "their" garden birds and those that like to see nature run its course.

If you want to discuss the morality of interfering with nature such as has been discussed here, start a new thread to cover the general topic.

graham h

MOD EDIT


BANNED