Whilst sitting on the viewing platform outside the visitor centre at Coombes Valley, you might be lucky enough to see a sparrowhawk catching lunch from the feeders. Although an exhilarating site, this can be a touchy subject. Occasionally, people get concerned that songbird numbers might be reduced by birds of prey. However, this is not the case. Read on to find out more about the sparrowhawk.
Sparrowhawks need woodland to breed, but also visit open spaces and sometimes gardens. With both woodland and meadows, Coombes provides some great sparrowhawk habitat!
Image by Becky Austin
There are now around 35,000 breeding pairs in the UK, but this has not always been the case. In the 1800’s the population of sparrowhawks dropped dramatically because of persecution by trophy hunters. They suffered again in the 1950’s and 60’s when pesticides built up in their food chain, causing problems like thinning eggshells. Now the population has recovered, and they can be found almost everywhere in the British Isles.
Image by Ben Hall (rspb images)
Studies show sparrowhawks take the weaker individuals when choosing prey. These birds would die due to other causes and because of this, the predator can take large numbers of prey without affecting the population the following year.
It is actually the numbers of prey that affect the sparrowhawk population. When there is plenty of food, sparrowhawk numbers rise, and when food is scarcer they fall. The availability of food also affects the range of this small bird of prey.
This is how food chains work. After all, the blue tit the predator might be making off could have been snacking on lots of tasty caterpillars itself. The caterpillars just aren’t as noticeable!
Image by David Kjaer (rspb images)
So, if you catch a sparrowhawk visiting your bird feeders at home, don’t worry. Try and enjoy the show, safe in the knowledge your regulars will return.