Sparrowhawk

[Outandabout]

I know sparrowhawks kill a variety of prey but today I watched 1 kill a crow in my garden.
I thought a crow would have been too big for them.

I was going to say take their prey but there are some dirty minds prowling this forum
Kevin

[tonyc]

I've seen female sparrow hawks taking pigeons but never a crow. Was this a typical ambush strike?

[Outandabout]

Yes, the crow was picking up some suet pellets put out for the birds and the hawk just came over the trees like a bullet hitting the crow on its back.
It left a load of black feathers all over the place I had to go and pick some of them up.

[tonyc]

I've not seen anything taken on the ground, only in the air. I saw one have 3 attempts at a wood pigeon, hitting it twice with a puff of feathers each time, but it obviously didn't get a clean strike as the pigeon managed to get away.

The reason I asked about the strike is I've seen one mobbed by two crows and it didn't attempt to retaliate. I've also seen a male sparrowhawk mobbed and chased away by a group of wagtails, which surprised me.

[Outandabout]

I have seen this type of strike on a good few occasions in my garden.
I have even seen a sparrowhawk sit on the fence the make it's way into the conifers to flush birds out before taking them.
Kevin