We live in the semi detached suburbia of South Manchester so I was quite suprised to witness a sparrow hawk take an adult pidgeon in the back garden this morning. I can only assume tha the sparrow hawk must have been quite hungry or upset by all the rainy and windy weather to come this far for breakfast.
Thanks Alan, you're a gent.
Lowey - you do not need a video for id purposes, photos are more than adequate and I wish it was an unusual occurance in my garden.
That said - I still wish you a warm welcome to the boards.
Cheers Deb
http://www.flickr.com/photos/Debz_14/
Still looks more petite and male-like to me... but juvs are difficult! And because Sprawks take so long to attain adult plumage, and because mortality is so high in the first year, it makes sense that we see more juv-types than easier-to-sex adults.
My blog: http://mazzaswildside.blogspot.co.uk/
My Flickr page: https://www.flickr.com/photos/124028194@N04/
This link may help you decide - link
Warden Intern at Otmoor.
LOL Ian, that's the same link Aiki gave. It must be a good one and worth a read!!!
Cheers, Linda.
See my photos on Flickr
So it is! Just in case you all missed it the first time!
In answer to Alans question, hunting areas are not defended as territories as such so you can find that the same areas are visited by different birds at different times of day. There is some evidence to show that females prefer more open country but it's likely that adults and first winter birds will share the same hunting grounds in many places. Despite this you generally don't find sparrowhawks together apart from during their breeding season or times when prey is plentiful.
Birds from our resident population usually occupy a winter range that is a wider extension of their breeding range however the migratory sparrowhawks that winter here occupy a home range wherever they can find suitable unoccupied habitat, which may change depending on hunting opportunities.