Edinburgh garden drama - Sparrowhawk vs pigeon

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Skyflash
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Edinburgh garden drama - Sparrowhawk vs pigeon

Post by Skyflash »

I was out sanding down a wall this afternoon when I heard an almighty squawking and commotion at my bird table, and turned round just in time to see a small-ish (juvenile?) sparrowhawk cartwheeling across the lawn with an unfortunate pigeon in its grasp. I crept back into the house, grabbed the camera, and then inched towards the hawk, which fortunately didn't seem too perturbed by my presence, and managed to snap these... amazing to get to watch a 'kill' like this up close, and in the centre of a big city, too:

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by Gordon Duncan, on Flickr

Image
by Gordon Duncan, on Flickr

Image
by Gordon Duncan, on Flickr

Image
by Gordon Duncan, on Flickr

Image
by Gordon Duncan, on Flickr

Image
by Gordon Duncan, on Flickr

Image
by Gordon Duncan, on Flickr

Image
by Gordon Duncan, on Flickr

Image
by Gordon Duncan, on Flickr
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Spiny Norman
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Re: Edinburgh garden drama - Sparrowhawk vs pigeon

Post by Spiny Norman »

Jings! As they say. I think that's the brains in pic 4? Do BBC Wildlife take pictures?

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Skyflash
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Re: Edinburgh garden drama - Sparrowhawk vs pigeon

Post by Skyflash »

Spiny Norman wrote:
Tue 29 Sep 2020, 10:18 am
Jings! As they say. I think that's the brains in pic 4? Do BBC Wildlife take pictures?
Yeah I think it is! Poor pigeon. Although in truth they're a damned nuisance, and I've already seen a dramatic reduction in their numbers at the bird-table, which means that the feed is going to the smaller birds which I'm actually trying to feed. So there are limits to my sympathy.

I'm going to email them to the BBC Scotland website which takes photo submissions from around the country.
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FarnboroJohn
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Re: Edinburgh garden drama - Sparrowhawk vs pigeon

Post by FarnboroJohn »

Your pigeon is a Collared Dove (apologies if you knew that) and I agree the Sparrowhawk is an immature bird with those brown mantle feather fringes and relatively spaced and irregular underside barring.

Great pix, envious!

FarnboroJohn
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Re: Edinburgh garden drama - Sparrowhawk vs pigeon

Post by FarnboroJohn »

Your pigeon is a Collared Dove (apologies if you knew that) and I agree the Sparrowhawk is an immature bird with those brown mantle feather fringes and relatively spaced and irregular underside barring. Interesting that you think they've reduced lately. I have the same perception down in Hampshire.

Great pix, envious!

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helired3
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Re: Edinburgh garden drama - Sparrowhawk vs pigeon

Post by helired3 »

Great pictures thanks for posting
Ian Harris https://www.flickr.com/photos/ian_harrisuk/

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Skyflash
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Re: Edinburgh garden drama - Sparrowhawk vs pigeon

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FarnboroJohn wrote:
Wed 30 Sep 2020, 4:59 pm
Your pigeon is a Collared Dove (apologies if you knew that) and I agree the Sparrowhawk is an immature bird with those brown mantle feather fringes and relatively spaced and irregular underside barring.

Great pix, envious!
A collared dove, indeed... I was using 'pigeon' generically (and inaccurately!)

According to my go-to bird expert (my dad), the sparrowhawk is an adult female... a bit like with lions, apparently the females do most of the hunting.
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FarnboroJohn
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Re: Edinburgh garden drama - Sparrowhawk vs pigeon

Post by FarnboroJohn »

Skyflash wrote:
Thu 01 Oct 2020, 11:57 am
FarnboroJohn wrote:
Wed 30 Sep 2020, 4:59 pm
Your pigeon is a Collared Dove (apologies if you knew that) and I agree the Sparrowhawk is an immature bird with those brown mantle feather fringes and relatively spaced and irregular underside barring.

Great pix, envious!
A collared dove, indeed... I was using 'pigeon' generically (and inaccurately!)

According to my go-to bird expert (my dad), the sparrowhawk is an adult female... a bit like with lions, apparently the females do most of the hunting.
Sort of true - or rather, at certain times. Male Sparrowhawks bring food to the nest while the female does practically all the egg-brooding. Then males continue while the chicks are small and need brooding post-hatching: the females add their ability to catch larger prey as the youngsters grow and require more and more food (which also subtracts the female's requirements from the bill presented to the smaller male!)

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Skyflash
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Re: Edinburgh garden drama - Sparrowhawk vs pigeon

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Fascinating explanation - thank you John!
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Re: Edinburgh garden drama - Sparrowhawk vs pigeon

Post by Airwolfhound »

Super shots, well done :-)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/24874528@N04/

Agile, mobile and hostile ;-)

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