Pair of sparrow hawk

Hi Janet,

I've seen 'our' female eat her prey in the garden, and leave nothing but beak and feathers.  So if its quiet enough they will just eat it there.  Although I imagine they'd be pretty stuffed after a bird like a Collared Dove!

That's a good question about their eating habits, I wondered that myself.  I presumed they could go a day or two without a kill, like most predators can. The size of their prey depends on the Sparrowhawk I guess, if they're not very big, strong or experienced I'd imagine they wouldn't try anything that's too big (e.g a Woodpigeon).

Our Sparrowhawk's preferred prey here is Collared Doves - those poor Doves do suffer here!

Unknown said:

The female is brown , here's a photo of 'my' Sparrowhawk:

 

The male is smaller and a blue colour with a rusty underside (that's my basic way of describing it, sorry).  This is the best photo of a male I have got:

 

 

Great pictures Paul!

Thank you Lloyd!  :o)

Unknown said:

Looks like you could have quite the bird haven going there Janet :o)

that was an old photo Paul E, I now have over 34 feeders on the apple tree alone.

WOW! Great photos all.