The Sparrowhawk is the antagonist of the Big Garden Birdwatch, the very bird we do not really want to see in our gardens over this weekend!
Sparrowhawk: Richard Brooks (rspb-images.com)
Their natural habitat is woodland but of course this top predator visits gardens for hunting opportunities.
Although spotting the swoop and hunt of a sparrowhawk can be exhilarating, witnessing a kill can be a bit distressing at times. It’s worth remembering that of course, the hawk needs to eat to survive, and garden birds themselves are not vegetarians as they also eat living creatures such as insects, caterpillars and worms. It’s estimated that only 10% of sparrowhawk hunting flights are successful in a catch so they have to put a lot of energy into obtaining a meal. They work hard for it unlike many of our smaller garden birds dipping down to the bird table to see what’s on offer each day!
The sparrowhawk will eat sparrows, tits, finches, thrushes and blackbirds, and larger females have been known to tackle collard doves and pigeons. Although you may not regularly see them, the good news is there are approximately 33,000 breeding pairs so they’re not considered endangered at all with a conservation status of green.
Browny grey females can be 25% bigger than the bluey grey backed male often with rusty coloured underparts and the average life span is approximately 4 years although a ringed sparrowhawk was recorded to reach 17 years.
There are some great audio examples of the sparrowhawk call from the British Library, garden-birds.co.uk and british-birdsongs.uk.
If you see one, it’s an exciting privilege but if not, your garden birds can feed in peace!
The Flatford Wildlife Garden is now closed for the rest of the winter season. Details of re-opening in Spring 2021 will be posted on this blog and the Flatford Wildlife Garden Website.