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Hi there
Another bird that fasinates us is the Sparrowhawk.
Some interesting facts here on this list too.
source: http://www.jacobijayne.co.uk/21-facts/
1. Sparrowhawks are specialist hunters of birds: more than 120 species have been recorded as prey, ranging in size from goldcrest to pheasant.
2. Despite this preference for feathered prey, they have been recorded taking a wide variety of small mammals, including bats captured in flight.
3. Many of their victims are plucked and eaten while still alive.
4. Sparrowhawks frequently fall prey themselves to goshawks, who will not tolerate the smaller birds in their territory.
5. Tawny owls are also major predators of young sparrowhawks.
6. Female sparrowhawks are typically 25% larger than males, but often twice as heavy.
7. Because of the size difference, male sparrowhawks court the females with caution, as the female can (and sometimes does) kill her suitor.
8. The female is dependent on extra food provided by the male to produce sufficient fat to allow her to lay eggs.
9. Contrary to popular belief, sparrowhawks do not control the numbers of their prey, but the numbers of prey control the number of sparrowhawks.
10. Sparrowhawks do ensure that the populations of their prey are healthy by weeding out the sick and unwary.
11. In medieval falconry, the sparrowhawk was deemed to be a bird for a priest.
12. In falconry the male spar has long been known as the musket. The name was later used for the small handgun used by soldiers (hence musketeers).
13. Sparrowhawks hunt by surprise, but frequently crash into windows when pursuing their prey, usually with fatal results.
14. Like all birds of prey, sparrowhawks are vulnerable to pesticide poisoning. The species was virtually wiped out in Eastern England in the 1960s due to DDT either killing them or rendering them infertile.
15. During the sparrowhawk's absence, no obvious increase appeared in songbird breeding numbers, nor was there an obvious decline when hawk numbers recovered.
16. Most young sparrowhawks will breed within 20km of where they were raised.
17. Birds which use the same nesting territory in successive years will usually also have the same mate.
18. British sparrowhawks are largely resident, but migrants from northern Europe both pass through and winter here.
19. A male sparrowhawk can survive for two or three days with food, but the larger female can last for up to six days.
20. While a male sparrowhawk does well to live to seven or eight, the female may survive until she is ten or 11.
21. Sparrowhawks gained full protection in Britain in 1961.
Regards
Kathy and Dave
Hi Blackbird.
That's a great list of facts about a magnificant bird.
Paul
Warning! This post contains atrocious spelling, and terrible grammar. Approach with extreme edginess.
Thank you for that Blackbird.
I have a great interest in Sparrowhawks, mainly because I have one that is a regular visitor, but because they're also (to me) quite an illusive bird and their life is shrouded in mystery - if they're not hunting you don't really see them.
Fascinating reading - especially the parts about the types of prey, couldn't believe they'd manage to catch bats!
Hi Paul and Paul (oh dear two Pauls LOL)
Thank you for your replies and it is good that you have taken an interest like you have.
Sparrowhawks are fasinating birds and they intrigue us all.
At the weekend Dave and I saw remains if Lapwings feathers, and it was assumed that Sparrowhawks had eaten a Lapwing {will download report shortly}
We have had one eating its prey in our garden around this time last year. She neatly plucked the little bird. It was a bit gory but nevertheless fascinating to watch.
just another little fact on Sparrowhawks
Sparrowhawk is the shortest-lived bird of prey with an average lifespan of just 2.7 years
That not much time is it.
Hey farmer, farmer, put away the D.D.T now. Give me spots on my apples, but leave me the birds and the bees, please!
I came across this interesting page on Wikipedia about Sparrowhawks too, if anyone's interested:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurasian_Sparrowhawk
Hi everyone,
There was some news a week ago or so that the Scottish Government had carried out a pilot relocation of sparrowhawks away from areas with racing pigeon lofts. Despite the objections of the RSPB and the Scot Gov's own wildlife agency Scottish National Heritage, they bowed to pressure from the pigeon owner's union. The full findings can be found at the Scot GOvt website under' publications' but the short version is that the pilot was a disaster, complete with unusable data, pigeon fanciers that couldn't find the time to take part in monitoring raptor levels, and even a sparrowhawk who returned home after being relocated (a homing sparrowhawk)
The report is hilarious reading and shows the futility of the whole thing. On a less funny note, it showed how politicians were willing to bow to pressure and persecute raptors.
I even love magpies
Hi Johnny Mac,
I read about that pilot scheme and was in amazement that it was even considered to be honest. From what I remember the pigeon fanciers were blaming a high percentage (something like 70%) of racing pigeons on Birds of Prey when the real number turned out to be something crazy like 5%. I can't fully remember the figures.
Thinking of that Wikipedia article, I found it quite amusing to read about how unruly Sparrowhawks are in the sense that they're hard to train/tame. Putting that with relocating them I'm not surprised that one went back - they're clearly too stubborn!
Hello Johnny Mac,When we are led to believe that these people are intelligent and, presumably, felt they were dealing with dumb birds, I found this report hilarious. There seems to be some contradictions in the figures and I can't believe that anybody could be so stupid as to think that a Sparrowhawk would not return to it's regular patch. As usual, the exercise was a complete waste of time and money.
Hi Blackbird
Thanks for taking the trouble to give us the information. I really appreciate it. :-)
I have nothing against sparrowhawks, but sometimes wonder why they seem to catch blue tits that probably weigh less than 1oz wet through, when they might go for a starling or better yet a pigeon.
Best wishes Chris
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