Can you tell me what this mean bird is?>
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Minnie_the_Minx
someinenhhanding menbag and me ah bollox
Minnie_the_Minx
someinenhhanding menbag and me ah bollox
seeformiles
Lost in the wood
definitely a sparrowhawk - one killed a pigeon in my garden last week, took its time about doing it too, then hopped on a branch, had a shit and flew off.
neonwilderness
What would Badgers do?
Millions of the buggers in High Wycombeif youre ever passing that way. they are massive!
I'll keep it in mind. I pass Derwentside (10 minutes up the road) more often than High Wycombe though
Bloody hell!
What did it use to kill the pigeon? Dynamite?
He'd been eating it for some time by that time.
kained&able
Here for the football.
Millions of the buggers in High Wycombe
yeah! always used to see em when i loved in wycombe.
dave
geminisnake
a complex mass of conflicting ideas
HER face, HER beautiful yellow eyes.
Lady sparrowhawks tend to be bigger than mr sparrowhawk. If you're bothered about the feathers mm gather them up and put them in the compost heap or dustbin.
There's lots of feathers because the sparrowhawk plucks the bird they're eating fogbat. They can't spit the feathers out as they go you know.
I love my visiting sparrowhawk
cesare
shady's dreams ♥
Should have been giving her/him your full attention dave
spanglechick
High Empress of Dressing Up
a sparrowhawk flew into my mum and dad's kitchen at their old house, through the patio door. i was home from uni, parents at work, and suddenly heard their cleaner (oh, fuck off!) screaming like she was being murdered. had to be all brave and shepherd the fucker out cos it was all freaked out and flying into windows.
edit - suburban south london
edit - suburban south london
Callie
Pivoting
How big is the difference? Im not sure Ive ever seen a sparra awk in the flesh. Would the male really not go for a wood pigeon? Spose they are quite large them wood pigeons.
Hi milly,
It is, in fact, a mature, female Sparrowhawk.
A good old bird by the look of her that's paid her way, raised more than a couple of broods and needs the occasional feast. A British indigenous species, they were very rare 35 years ago due to decades of gamekeeping and DDT poisoning, yet are making a comeback in the UK.
The small stature, long spindley legs and tarsels (toes), general colouration, prominent irises (as opposed to the big, dark pupils seen in falcons such as the Peregrine, Kestrel, Merlin and Hobby), together with the telltale "white eyebrows" and the fact that she is engaged in catching birds in and around gardens, fields, hedgerows and spinneys/woods (rather than targeting small mammals, invertebrates and insects, or chasing birds up high in the sky,) tell us that she's a Sparrowhawk.
The white breast with narrow brown bars lets us know that she is mature - Sparrowhawks carry a more dappled/speckled breast (a bit like a young Song Thrush,) in their first year until they moult into the bars we see in your photograph.
Interestingly, the orange irises tell us that this female is at least five years old, possibly a few years older, (they darken like that as hawks get older - compare her to the picture posted in the second post, which is of a younger, mature [the barred chest], female Sparrowhawk, the irises are much lighter and yellower).
So, we know she's a Sparrowhawk and quite mature (they rarely go beyond 12 years in the wild and probably average at about 8 years - if they reach adulthood).
We know she's female since male Sparrowhawks are somewhat smaller and, when mature, develop a far more red/russet hue to their chest bars and generally a far bluer rather than browny tinge to their plumage.
Mature male Sparrowhawk:
Mature female Sparrowhawk:
Nice birds. Highly strung and tempremental, but sharp, elegant and fearless.
Woof
It is, in fact, a mature, female Sparrowhawk.
A good old bird by the look of her that's paid her way, raised more than a couple of broods and needs the occasional feast. A British indigenous species, they were very rare 35 years ago due to decades of gamekeeping and DDT poisoning, yet are making a comeback in the UK.
The small stature, long spindley legs and tarsels (toes), general colouration, prominent irises (as opposed to the big, dark pupils seen in falcons such as the Peregrine, Kestrel, Merlin and Hobby), together with the telltale "white eyebrows" and the fact that she is engaged in catching birds in and around gardens, fields, hedgerows and spinneys/woods (rather than targeting small mammals, invertebrates and insects, or chasing birds up high in the sky,) tell us that she's a Sparrowhawk.
The white breast with narrow brown bars lets us know that she is mature - Sparrowhawks carry a more dappled/speckled breast (a bit like a young Song Thrush,) in their first year until they moult into the bars we see in your photograph.
Interestingly, the orange irises tell us that this female is at least five years old, possibly a few years older, (they darken like that as hawks get older - compare her to the picture posted in the second post, which is of a younger, mature [the barred chest], female Sparrowhawk, the irises are much lighter and yellower).
So, we know she's a Sparrowhawk and quite mature (they rarely go beyond 12 years in the wild and probably average at about 8 years - if they reach adulthood).
We know she's female since male Sparrowhawks are somewhat smaller and, when mature, develop a far more red/russet hue to their chest bars and generally a far bluer rather than browny tinge to their plumage.
Mature male Sparrowhawk:
Mature female Sparrowhawk:
Nice birds. Highly strung and tempremental, but sharp, elegant and fearless.
Woof
geminisnake
a complex mass of conflicting ideas
Jessie has explained it all in much more detail than I would have
I'd have said they're greyer.Tbh I'm not convinced males never go for pidgeons coz I've only seen mr sh in the front garden and mrs sh in the back and there was a decapitated pidgeon in the front under the hedge a few months ago.
Basically I'd go with they are opportunists and what they go for can depend on how hungry they are and what the situation is.
Maggot
The Cake of Liberty
Shouldn't this all be on Twitter?
Loads of red Kites around Thame too.Millions of the buggers in High Wycombe
ill-informed
passive aggressive master
The sparrowhawk is my favourite bird. i saw one attack a long tailed tit in a forest once.
Jessiedog: you havent told us about the eyebrows
Oh yes I have!
Jessiedog said:
Hawks are "Shortwings" as opposed to falcons "Longwings".
In hawks, the 4th or 5th primary feather - counted from closest to the body - is the longest (as too in Buzzards and Eagles,) giving them strong, broad, round-ended wings (similar to crows,) that are good for short, fast, flapping, bursts of speed. They hunt low to the ground over short distances. They use stealth (sitting in a tree/hedge until something comes nearish, or flying along hedges hoping to "flush" something out,) and then a huge burst of speed over a short distance to overhaul the quarry.
It's possible that a male Sparrowhawk could take a mature adult Woodpigeon under very favourable circumstances, but highly unlikely; they weigh between 6oz and 9oz at best while a mature woody can run over 2lb. Even a female Spar at 7oz - 12oz would generally avoid that kind of trouble.
Some species of Dove and some smaller-than-Woodie Pigeons are fair game for the larger and bolder females tho'.
Typical prey in the wild, are any typical "garden" birds (including hedgerow, field and wood/spinney,) from Wrens and Tits through Robins and the various Sparrows, to Blackbirds and Thrushes. Starlings are good, but can fight back vigorously using their long pointy beak as a dagger and will tend to be avoid as the Spar learns this.
Small birds that fly high and fast such as Larks, Woodcocks, Swallows and Swifts, etc. are not on the Sparrowhawk's menu.
The smaller "Longwings", however, Merlin and Hobby specifically, can take these prey, though perhaps the Swallow/Swift is really only for the Hobby and when there's easier prey around, why bother with the most difficult?
In Longwings, the 1st or 2nd Primary is the longest and you get that classic Peregrine "pointy-wing" look as opposed to the Hawk's blunt, rounded style. Longwings typically hunt by gaining altitude through circling in upward spirals into the sky (in order to be high above any quarry,) and then circling or drifting until they see a likely target, wherupon they close their wings (after a couple of quick clips downward,) and go into a "stoop", often diving hundreds of feet like a bullet before battering into their prey and knocking it senseless. This speciality of nature allows larger quarry to be taken in relation to the Falcon's size.
Kestrels are true falcons and will both ring-up and stoop, but they are also masters at the low (50 - 200 feet) hover and then stoop.
Woof
krtek a houby
Saoirse don Phalaistín!
krtek a houby
Saoirse don Phalaistín!
Wish I had a kestrel come round and do the hoovering...
ill-informed
passive aggressive master
you seem to know an awful lot about birds of prey jessiedog. I had a sparrowhawk in my garden once, the cat told me, so i went to have a look and it was busilly de-feathering a woodpidgeon, so i backed off and left it alone.
the time when i saw it attack a long tailed tit, i was sitting on my favourite rock in the middle of this local wood, i'd been there for about an hour and this group of tits turned up chirping away, and unbeknown to any of us was that there was a sparrowhawk sitting on an oak branch quite close to me, it dropped onto a tit in a flash and there was a bit of a tussle but the tit got away, then the wood came alive with warning calls spreading out from where i was and then the sparrowhawk realising his cover had been broken glided past me and melted into the wood.
the time when i saw it attack a long tailed tit, i was sitting on my favourite rock in the middle of this local wood, i'd been there for about an hour and this group of tits turned up chirping away, and unbeknown to any of us was that there was a sparrowhawk sitting on an oak branch quite close to me, it dropped onto a tit in a flash and there was a bit of a tussle but the tit got away, then the wood came alive with warning calls spreading out from where i was and then the sparrowhawk realising his cover had been broken glided past me and melted into the wood.
miss minnie
Well-Known Member
Louloubelle
Well-Known Member
I saw an immature peregrine falcon, probably a fledgling with its first kill, in the street round the corner from me last summer.
I heard it before I saw it. Loud urgent screeching. It was on a high post next to a wall in a narrow mews, not the usual locations for a peregrine at all.
I realised immediately that it wasn't a sparrowhawk, and it took a moment to recognise the bird. It looked exactly like a peregrine except that the colouring was gingery brown instead of slate grey. Also the bands on its legs were paler, thicker and fewer then on an adult peregrine.
It had caught a bird or rodent (didn't get a good view the prey) and was tearing at it with its beak whilst shielding it with its wings (behaviour known as mantling) and screeching with excitement.
After a couple of minutes that seemed to last for hours it flew to a nearby tree, screeched a bit more and then flew away.
I phoned the London bird recorder and gave a description and was told that it was a pretty reliable sighting of a juvenile peregrine. Apparently they often make a lot of noise and get very excited when they make their first kill so this is probably what I saw.
I was on a high for ages afterwards for seeing such a wonderful bird in such an incongruous environment.
I heard it before I saw it. Loud urgent screeching. It was on a high post next to a wall in a narrow mews, not the usual locations for a peregrine at all.
I realised immediately that it wasn't a sparrowhawk, and it took a moment to recognise the bird. It looked exactly like a peregrine except that the colouring was gingery brown instead of slate grey. Also the bands on its legs were paler, thicker and fewer then on an adult peregrine.
It had caught a bird or rodent (didn't get a good view the prey) and was tearing at it with its beak whilst shielding it with its wings (behaviour known as mantling) and screeching with excitement.
After a couple of minutes that seemed to last for hours it flew to a nearby tree, screeched a bit more and then flew away.
I phoned the London bird recorder and gave a description and was told that it was a pretty reliable sighting of a juvenile peregrine. Apparently they often make a lot of noise and get very excited when they make their first kill so this is probably what I saw.
I was on a high for ages afterwards for seeing such a wonderful bird in such an incongruous environment.
northeastoipunk
bash the rich
red kites
yes just take a bus from newcastle to consett , its 45 or 46 bus , the area i can guarantee to see them is just past swalwell , winlaton mill, if your taking camera a walk up that way from swallwell , up derwent walk is prob best gibside chapel up that valley is another good spot and photogenic . they cull grey squirrel in the grounds and whistle the kites down to feed on them apparently
Some friends of mine have a few birds and they all look mental too. I once looked after them for a weekend
Are there any good spots for seeing them?
yes just take a bus from newcastle to consett , its 45 or 46 bus , the area i can guarantee to see them is just past swalwell , winlaton mill, if your taking camera a walk up that way from swallwell , up derwent walk is prob best gibside chapel up that valley is another good spot and photogenic . they cull grey squirrel in the grounds and whistle the kites down to feed on them apparently
Kestrels are very very good at hoveringamazing
I watched some great kestrels yesterday. I am dead into birds right now.
It's a courageous Spar' indeed that will take down a woodie.
I was heavily into falconry and hawking for about 15 years from the early 1970's to the late 1980's. Still have a deep love of raptors, birds, animals and nature in general.
Excellent!
Woof
Beautiful.
Could possibly be a Goshawk (difficult to tell with just the head/chest shot,) but looks more like a younger, but still mature, female Sparrowhawk, probably a couple of years old (yellow irises).
Woof
