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Sparrowhawk hunting at feeder

Bricker
11/12/2020 13:40

A young male Sparrowhawk is frequenting my feeder almost daily now. He's not interested in the seed or fatballs, though! You can certainly tell when he's nearby as the feeder is empty.

Whilst I haven't seen him catch anything, despite his best efforts, does anyone make adjustments to compensate? The feeders are surrounded by trees so there is lots of cover nearby.

Once he's gone, the birds are back on the feeder within minutes.

Do I simply let nature run its course? I certainly enjoy his visits even if the tits and finches don't!

  • 0 11/12/2020 14:52
    Thanks Alan,
    Yes, there's cover nearby they wait in until the coast is clear.

    Out of interest, do Sparrowhawk's live up to their name?
    Do they have a preference for Sparrows over other species?
    What's the biggest prey they take? There's plenty of Pigeons, Crows and Magpies, even Rabbits and Grey Squirrels amongst the Tits and Finches around the feeder.

    Thanks
  • 0 11/12/2020 15:38

    Thanks Alan,

    That's interesting. Haven't seen the resident Dove couple for a while; hope theyr'e safe!

    I presume a Great Spotted Woodpecker would therefore be no match for a male Sparrowhawk?

    Hoping to see a female Sparrowhawk soon to see the size difference to the male.

    The poor Tits were fed up with the Greenfinches presiding over them...

    Now they all know the pecking order!

    Thanks again

  • 0 11/12/2020 16:02
    Thanks Alan,
    Incredible photos.
    Thank you for sharing
  • +1 11/12/2020 17:02
    The other thing to consider, is that they only take what they need, and Mother Nature always likes a balance, so all things being equal, you should let nature take it's course, and all will be well :o)
  • 0 12/12/2020 01:51
    Welcome to the Forum, Bricker. At our former house we spent a fortune on sunflower hearts and fed many generations of Collared Doves in hopes that the Sparrow Hawks would prey on them rather than on our smaller birds. On the whole that worked very well--we had up to a dozen Doves visiting the feeders many times. We saw evidence of at least half a dozen Collared Doves taken as prey and only saw one Blackbird taken, although of course, there were most likely some other birds caught by the local Sparrow Hawk pair when we did not happen to be watching. Several times I watched a Sparrow Hawk plucking the feathers from their Dove prey and removing our sunflower hearts from the crop of the Dove before being able to get the prey up off the ground. One took at least 45 minutes before it finally managed to lift the de-feathered and de-sunflower-hearted Dove up into the air and out of the back garden.

    Kind regards, Ann

  • 0 17/12/2020 20:50

    Thanks Ann,

    You somewhat spoilt those Sparrowhawks it seems.

    I wonder how far they wanted to take their dinner before settling to eat?

    The male has been visiting again.

    I think I saw a second one at the same time too  (female?) although I can't be sure.

    Do pairs hunt together?

    The male is certainly very patient and has settled on a favourite post upon which to wait. I haven't seen him succeed... yet.

    Terrible photos sorry but show the landscape:

    Hawk waiting in blue, feeder in orange.

    Perched, waiting for an opportunity

    I've assumed it's a young male as the plumage seems fluffy under close examination. Please let me know if I'm barking up the wrong post here!