Sparrowhawk

[aceyone]

took a bit of patience to get this Sparrowhawk that had been making stealth attacks on the feeders



thanks for looking

[Airwolfhound]

What a fabulous bird, and photo, well done

[AlexC]

Great photo.

We had one (a male I think) fly into our window recently, and as I looked out he was spread-eagled on the ground looking up at me, don't think he was covering prey as they usually do. I went out into the garden to have a look at him, but just about as soon as I reached him he was away in a flash. Very impressive.

[helired3]

Thats a cracking shot.

[FarnboroJohn]

Your patience has paid off handsomely! Nice adult male - and in sunshine - glorious.

John

[colper]

Super shot Andy,never seen one up close

Colin

[FarnboroJohn]

Super shot Andy,never seen one up close

Colin

Just make sure your bird table has suitable perches nearby - you will!

John

[Brevet Cable]

Or hanging bird-feeders.
Don't know why they're called sparrowhawks, though, as the ones which visit our back garden currently have a taste for jackdaws !

And if you wait until they've caught their meal you can usually walk right up to them, their only reaction tends to be to cover their prey with their wings to prevent you nicking their dinner.

Not the brightest of birds, and they seem to have a tendancy to target prey which is larger & heavier than themselves ( so they're incapable of flying off with it once caught )

[FarnboroJohn]

Or hanging bird-feeders.
Don't know why they're called sparrowhawks, though, as the ones which visit our back garden currently have a taste for jackdaws !

And if you wait until they've caught their meal you can usually walk right up to them, their only reaction tends to be to cover their prey with their wings to prevent you nicking their dinner.

Not the brightest of birds, and they seem to have a tendancy to target prey which is larger & heavier than themselves ( so they're incapable of flying off with it once caught )

The females are substantially larger than the males and specialise in larger prey. The females do most of the early incubation and then when the young are big enough to be left for a bit the food being brought to the nest (often dismembered chunks after the female has fed herself) gets a big boost just as the hatched young start to grow rapidly.

The covering thing is called mantling and as you correctly say is about ownership - and probably concealing prey from passing larger raptors such as Buzzards and kites.

Not so daft really...

Cheers

John

[Brevet Cable]

The one we spent much of this afternoon watching is definitely a male, which probably targets jackdaws as they're normally what's found hanging off our bird-feeders ( one less now )
Took the best part of 2 hours before it finally got the better of the jackdaw it had latched onto, not helped by having a magpie doing the usual magpie thing of attacking the jackdaw as well.
Most of 'ours' drag their prey under various bushes to be out of view, except for this one which favours a wooden bench.
The buzzards have a surfeit of roadkill & kitchen scraps -- and the occasional slow-worm the neighbour's chicken kills -- so don't tend to bother the smaller raptors.

Must be just the Welsh ones which are daft - they tend to have a habit of flying into windows, walls, wooden fences, trees, garden sheds, parked vehicles....

Who needs television when you can watch the wildlife in the flesh

[AlexC]

And if you wait until they've caught their meal you can usually walk right up to them, their only reaction tends to be to cover their prey with their wings to prevent you nicking their dinner.

One had caught a dunnock (which was making that awful distress call) in our garden recently, and as I approached them the sparrowhawk flew off with the dunnock. Certainly prevented me from nicking his dinner!