Visiting sparrowhawk living up to its name
THE tough months ahead for our bird life are all about survival – feeding not breeding. But for some species that can be a dangerous business in itself. For while sparrows happily eat seeds, sparrowhawks eat... well, sparrows.
Over recent weeks the house sparrows that gather in my west Dartmoor garden have taken advantage of daily handouts of premier seed mix scattered on the lawn beside the cover of a hedge, which provides a safe refuge should a predator come calling. They are a chirpy bunch, numbering more than twenty on some days.
Unfortunately for them a sparrowhawk has obviously clocked the gatherings and one feeding station leads to another for such a cunning predator. Sparrowhawks use the art of surprise to catch nervy prey such as sparrows, flying fast along familiar routes in the hope of catching an unsuspecting bird off guard.
On Tuesday it struck lucky. I looked out of my dining room window and thought a woodpigeon had joined the sparrows, until I realised it was a sparrowhawk with a house sparrow gripped in its spindly yellow talons (pictured right).
Any bird of prey is an impressive sight up close, and I got excellent views as it guarded its prey, looking about with amber eyes before partially plucking its catch, then flying off with it to feed. This was a male – grey-backed with orangey barring across the chest.
Such drama played out in one’s garden is both compelling and shocking. I know it is all part of the natural cycle of life, but given house sparrows are on the red list of UK birds of highest conservation concern, I would rather be feeding them than indirectly feeding a green-listed sparrowhawk, which could potentially decimate my resident sparrow flock.
As any conservationist will tell you, the sparrowhawk can only survive if there is a healthy population of small birds to sustain it. But I’m not overly keen to test that theory to its limit... And I’m not sure this one was preying on the weak either – just the momentarily inattentive.
Apart from trying to find an even safer place to feed my sparrows there is not a lot I can do about the situation. Let’s just hope enough of my sparrows make it through until spring.