We had just developed a thriving wild bird “canteen” in our garden, with quite a number and variety of birds visiting the feeders put out.

Then, on Monday, I saw a sparrow hark in the garden, under the feeders, pinning down a starling and eating it!

There hasn’t been a single bird back since so I’m wondering if that’s it, our garden is now a no go area to the non-violent feathered freinds?

So you put out food to attract birds and now you’re not happy with the type of birds attracted?

🙂

You are a McFly-thru

We had one take something dark, possibly a blackbird. The other birds have been back quite happily.

My garden gets visited by a Sparrowhawk,when it flies off the rest of the local bird population return

Put meat out for the sparrow hawk? Possibly whole sides of beef? (I like sparrow hawks. 🙂 )

You can’t lay on a banquet for the veggies and not expect a few meat eaters to turn up 🙂

You wanted birds, at least you got an interesting one making an appearance!

I’ve put my feeder in a place where the sparrowhawk can approach from behind the garage. That way I’m feeding the veggies and the meat eaters.

I expect that makes me a bad person, but I’m with IdleJon…

We had one in the garden a couple of years ago. This sparrow was screaming as the hawk killed it. I know its nature and is what it is, but was quite an experience ! Could have cleared the sparrows feathers up as well, lazy sod.

We had the same thing sparrow hawk ate a small bird one summer afternoon. I thought fair enough survival of the fittest and I haven’t seen one in the garden before so not exactly common. It looked pretty nervous and ate every morsel then flew off
Haven’t seenit back since. So wouldn’t worry too much. As someone suggested if you do put meat out for it. It will take the easy option.
It’s coming into winter and birds of prey need decent amount of calories daily to survive.

It was pretty good seeing the hawk in the garden but the kids weren’t so keen on the bloodbath!!

It was pretty good seeing the hawk in the garden but the kids weren’t so keen on the bloodbath!!

Invaluable learning experience. Nature red in tooth and claw and all that. Now make them conduct a thorough post-mortem to really instill the lesson.

On a serious note, though, it is actually good for them to see something like a sparrowhawk. Although they are relatively common, they are usually quite elusive. I was a bit of a birder as a kid, and didn’t see one for a long time.

Seeing these things is great. I had to go on a speed awareness course a few years back, and was a bit fed up at having to spend an evening doing that, but I saw a barn owl in flight on my way home (whilst paying studious attention to the road, obviously) and was quite chuffed at that.

The hawk took the carcass with it when the dog went out…I didn’t think it would be able to lift it as it was quite a chubby starling (due to all the suet put out no doubt….oh no it’s my fault!!!!!) and quite a small hawk.

I wouldn’t worry, that’s natures way.

We spend a fair bit on bird food, but we save on cat food.

Our garden is plagued by magpies, I’m sure that’s why we don’t have a lot of smaller birds visiting at the moment.

Had a sparrowhawk one afternoon but I’m fairly sure they move about quite a bit.

Invaluable learning experience. Nature red in tooth and claw and all that. Now make them conduct a thorough post-mortem fight to the death to really instill the lesson

Better still.

Put the feeder right next to a bush, give the small birds somewhere close to hide.

^^ This’ll give the cats a chance to hide at least.

As above, that’s nature and starlings are 10 a penny.

We get lots of birds nesting and breeding in the garden and it’s alive with song in the spring. Then a couple of magpies turn up and it’s carnage and within a couple of weeks there’s not much left. Also get a sparrow hawk now and again and a goshawk. Keep worrying about my chickens as a couple of mates have had their chickens taken by goshawks even one with my mate in the garden!

As above, that’s nature and starlings are 10 a penny.

I was thinking a few weeks ago that we used to get big flocks of them around here but I haven’t seen many recently. (Although the same can be said of sparrows and house martins.)

Start keeping chickens. Then you might even get to battle a Goshawk for their souls. I still have the hen who has since also been half plucked by a dog and traumatised by a fox. Tough old bird 🙂

watching a male sparrowhawk hunt in the garden it was not what I was expecting it was more like a terrier, with a rat trapped where it quite can’t get at it, in this case it’s a bird in dense undergrowth with the hawk moving so quickly from one side to the other (never seen anything move so quickly) to cut off any escape. The garden goes very quiet for hours after he’s been.

also I made some spherical cages to go round some of our feeders makes things just a bit more tricky for him as he can’t just “pick” birds off as they feed. I’ve seen it save a goldfinch so it works some of the time

Sparrowhawk taking afternoon tea in our back garden during the summer. We were down one collared dove.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/BKxzXz]IMG_2086[/url] by Paul Whitehead, on Flickr

I saw a barn owl in flight on my way home (whilst paying studious attention to the road, obviously) and was quite chuffed at that.

Night riding’s the best way to see barn owls!

We had just developed a thriving wild bird “canteen” in our garden, with quite a number and variety of birds visiting the feeders put out.

Then, on Monday, I saw a sparrow hark in the garden, under the feeders, pinning down a starling and eating it!

There hasn’t been a single bird back since so I’m wondering if that’s it, our garden is now a no go area to the non-violent feathered freinds?

Nah, they’ll be back. Birds are stupid like that.

My wife was most upset when our local sparrowhawk decided to turn up and help himself at the bird spa she’d created.

As slowoldgit said. Put the feeder near to cover, a bush or tree.
Rspb site gives out great info about setting up bird feeders.

Sparrow hawks are more common than you may think.

I’m guessing you had a male sparrow hawk. They tend to take the smaller birds and the starling is probably the largest they can manage.
Once out mtbing I saw a female take down a wood pigeon. She was mantling the bird but I got too close. She flew off but I’m sure she came back once I’d pootled past.

Ahh, those ten a penny Starlings…

You mean the ones on the Red List??

Granted they’re still reasonably common but you shouldn’t be complacent eh.

Most exciting thing we get in our garden is a Coal Tit.

****, you lucky bugger! I’d *LOVE* to see a goshawk, getting one in your garden would be immense. Goshawks have been known to hunt and take sparrowhawks, which tells you the size differential. Bear in mind that a female sparrowhawk is almost twice the sise of a male sparrowhawk

I’ve seen the left overs of what was a woodpecker in my nans garden. I’ve also seen one devour a wood pigeon right in front of me, I managed to get within 2 metres of it on open ground, sadly I was just on my way to pick my phone up from being repaired so no chance of a picture