The last week or so we have had several areas of pigeon feathers in my garden. At first I thought it was foxes - of which there are loads in my area. But last night when I went into the kitchen I noticed a bird sitting in the middle of my lawn. I almost didn't notice that it wasnt a pigeon, dont know what really drew my attention to it, but it was some kind of bird of prey and it was eating a pigeon it had caught. I managed to grab my camera but it was dusk and the camera is new and I dont really know how to use it yet! I took some shots of it through a window from an upstairs room. I had to zoom in quite far and didn't want to use the flash in case I scared him off so the pictures aren't that great.
Anyway, I stood there for ages until my cat eventually scared it off. I then checked online to see if I could find the species. My first though was sparrowhawk, although I've never seen one, it was just something that popped in my head. I googled and came to the conclusion that was what it was. Sent a picture of it to my dad who this morning informs me he thinks it is a peregrine because he doesn't think sparrowhawks are quick enough to catch a pigeon in flight. From the picture, I am certain it is a sparrowhawk. It had golden eyes and no moustache and looks browner than peregrines. But the feathers on his legs seem to go too far down for sparrowhawks so that's why my dad thinks its a peregrine.
Here he (or she?) is:
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/Toggi2004/sparrowhawkapril2013_zps58ea484f.jpg (this one was taken with flash hence the red eye)
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/Toggi2004/sparrowhawk2april2013_zps07aadc8b.jpghttp://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/Toggi2004/sparrowhawk3april2013_zps61a99bc6.jpg
Please help settle the 'argument' and confirm which species he actually is!
Yes, that's a Sparrowhawk. Female Sprawks in particular often take pigeons. They are specialists in surprise attacks, coming in low and using cover to get close to prey, so they don't rely solely on speed.
As well as the plumage differences you noted, there are some differences in shape to consider. Scuse the somewhat blurry photo, but note on this Peregrine how long the wings are, the tips almost reaching the tail tip, Sprawk has much shorter wings. Peregrine also has a much bigger head relative to body size (this is a trait of all falcons compared to hawks).
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