Sparrowhawk

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Outandabout
Posts: 723
Joined: Tue Feb 17, 2015 8:13 pm
Location: Bishop Auckland Co Durham

Sparrowhawk

Sat Mar 09, 2019 11:03 am

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

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tonyc
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Joined: Mon May 29, 2017 10:55 am

Re: Sparrowhawk

Sat Mar 09, 2019 8:45 pm

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

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Outandabout
Posts: 723
Joined: Tue Feb 17, 2015 8:13 pm
Location: Bishop Auckland Co Durham

Re: Sparrowhawk

Mon Mar 11, 2019 7:10 am

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.

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tonyc
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Joined: Mon May 29, 2017 10:55 am

Re: Sparrowhawk

Mon Mar 11, 2019 6:02 pm

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.

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Outandabout
Posts: 723
Joined: Tue Feb 17, 2015 8:13 pm
Location: Bishop Auckland Co Durham

Re: Sparrowhawk

Wed Mar 13, 2019 7:16 am

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

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