Hawks hunt

I sympathise with Hector Maclean’s dismay at seeing his small avian visitors being snatched by the visiting sparrowhawk (Letters, 21 September), but we humans play a significant part in the process.

We lure the small birds into our gardens by offering them the equivalent of an avian service station restaurant, and they in turn provide the sparrowhawk with a smorgasbord from which to help herself. Who can blame her?

The best advice to those who find it difficult to observe this natural behaviour is to stop feeding the birds for a period of time, so that the sparrowhawk will be forced to look elsewhere for her meals. They’ll soon return when you resume feeding.

Around two-thirds of young sparrowhawks die in their first year, mainly from starvation. We don’t begrudge their presence in our garden. We know they’ll take only enough to sustain them, unlike humans, as anyone who has ever frequented one of those ‘eat all you want buffets’ can verify.