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Sparrowhawk |
Hunting
The female takes prey up to wood pigeon size, but the smaller male doesn't catch anything bigger than the mistle thrush. Sparrowhawks don't specialise in particular species, but take whatever is available and easy to catch. As a result, the most frequently caught birds are numerous and conspicuous, or easily caught. They go for easy prey such as the sick, old, weak or injured and remove primarily birds that would have died of other causes anyway. This makes the remaining songbird population fitter and healthier. In summer, about 40% of a sparrowhawk's diet is fledglings. Sparrowhawks spend more time hunting in habitats where prey availability is high and the chance of success is greatest. Should there be more prey in villages than woods, they would hunt in the villages, and vice versa. Versatile huntersSparrowhawks employ many hunting techniques, depending on the habitat and prey. They are not built for stamina and long chases, so they have to be able to approach their prey closely and undetected to have any chance of success. The usual flying speed is 30-40 kph, but a sparrowhawk is capable of up to 50 kph in short bursts. Once they have been spotted by their prey, sparrowhawks only have about three seconds to grab the prey before it escapes. Because the hawk is quite easily seen, and small birds warn others to fly for cover with calls, only about one attack in ten results in capture. Last modified: 03 July 2006 |
Bird guide |
Adult male sparrowhawk - Steve Round
Beech trees in autumn, RSPB Nagshead reserve - Andy Hay (rspb-images.com, Ref: 1999_0538_009 )
Sparrowhawk in flight - Graham Catley
Bird illustrations by Mike Langman (RSPB)