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Stunning. What is it?
Baby Robin?
Sparrowhawk. And a sparrow.
Good shot!
Sparrowhawk?
Why is it called a Sparrowhawk?
Took the binos with me as I walked the dog this evening. Glad I did as a barn owl was hunting for mice/voles in the adjoining field. In the forty minutes of light left I watched it make half a dozen journeys, about 500 yards between the field it was hunting and the corner of the field I was in . Superb treat.
I'm still haunted by the screams from the sparrow in my garden being plucked alive before having it's chest ripped open and devoured.
Of course, I had to watch till the end.
Why is it called a Sparrowhawk?
Well, they look pretty much alike - if the sparrow wasn't sleeping you'd see the likeness even better I should think
Video to follow ... 🙂
Nice photo! I saw a Sparrowhawk try to take down a pigeon close to Chippenham town centre a week or so ago, in front of an office block close to Brunel’s Western Arches railway viaduct. I saw something flash out of the corner of my eye and skid across the paving into a corner of the building. I stopped, trying to see what the hell it was, there was a bit of a struggle going on, then realised the hawk had hit the pigeon hard and brought it down. After a minute or so the pigeon got free, took off and hit a car, then the Sparrowhawk caught it again on the grass in the middle of a pedestrian island. Last I saw it was mantling over the pigeon, but my g/f didn’t want to watch the impending butchery so I left it there. Amazing to see so close up, in such a mundane setting.
Nice shot, and you lucky thing. Get the occasional SH ripping across my patio and snatching a bird off the feeders - always a thrill to glimpse it.
Incidentally, they’re really difficult to recognise if they’re sat down - like perched on a fence - they just look like a slightly miffed pigeon.
My house is on a hill, so the top of the back gate and the conservatory are level, the local sparrowhawk uses it as a perch to launch from when hunting, makes me jump when it pops up next to me, I always get a split second of 'that's a funny looking pigeon' before the recognition of 'not a pigeon' kicks in...
wow!
<span style="font-size: 0.8rem;">Nature is so beautiful and yet scary in equal measures.</span>
I love the photo.
I’d rather a Sparrowhawk got a bird than a neighbours marauding cat!
To be fair it would be a pretty fiesty sparrowhawk that got a cat for lunch?
Awesome pic and footage. What did you use to capture it?
What did you use to capture it?
A dead sparrow and a net?
I’d rather a Sparrowhawk got a bird than a neighbours marauding cat!
i wonder what a sparrow would prefer.
Magnificent!
Nature in action, thanks for posting Redthunder.
awesome.
as we're getting into purple-shitting pigeon season - where can I get me one of these beauties?
Real life is pretty grim !
We've had regular male and female sparrow hawk visits since Christmas
Seems they've discovered our bountiful amount of finches/sparrow/blackbirds/robins/tits on the feeders
We have a close branched bush that I saw the male chasing tits through, amazing to see
We had a sparrowhawk sit just outside our garden door maybe 2 metres from us. Unfortunately the glass was wet and I couldn't get anywhere near as good a shot as the OP's.
Ace.
The sparrows are getting a bit rowdy in our garden so it's only a matter of time before the local sparrowhawk nips in for a bite.
That photo is fabulous.
Female sparrowhawks can usually take down much bigger prey than a sparrow.
Is that a regular plucking post or a one off?
as we’re getting into purple-shitting pigeon season
Pigeons are at the upper end of their prey weight. Only females are big enough to hunt adults. Although both can go after the younger ones.
Last week the normal horde of pigeons at the nearby uni were going absolutely nuts swirling around enmass. Really odd behaviour but explained by the fact a peregrine was looking for lunch and they were dodging it. Dont know if it got one since went out of sight behind the buildings. Hopefully it is moving into the area.
male chasing tits
Always was it thus.
Any chance you could send him round to my garage, there's a dead seagull on there that needs eating.
You should eat the gull yourself! My local butcher does seabird sausages. He used to be really good but recently he’s taken a tern for the wurst.
there’s a dead seagull on there that needs eating.
What flavour is it?
Do you get wafers with it?