Discussion
Over the last few months I've noticed a small bird of prey "hunting" near my house.
Well today I was on the phone looking out of the window watching some sparrows having a dust bath at the end
of the drive. The next second this bird flew down grabbed one of the sparrows. It waited where it caught the sparrow
for a few seconds then flew off.
I have no idea of what bird it was. I was thinking it was a sparrow hawk but looked more grey than the pictures I have found
on the Internet.
Any ideas as to what it was?
Well today I was on the phone looking out of the window watching some sparrows having a dust bath at the end
of the drive. The next second this bird flew down grabbed one of the sparrows. It waited where it caught the sparrow
for a few seconds then flew off.
I have no idea of what bird it was. I was thinking it was a sparrow hawk but looked more grey than the pictures I have found
on the Internet.
Any ideas as to what it was?
If you live near woods its prob a sparrow hawk, if you live near open fields it's probably a kestral. Most other british BOP will be a lot bigger than both those birds
Edit: to change every, to most as I forgot about peregrins and hobbys and other small BOP, but you tend not to see these ones near civilization like you do with sparrowhawks and kestrals.
Edit: to change every, to most as I forgot about peregrins and hobbys and other small BOP, but you tend not to see these ones near civilization like you do with sparrowhawks and kestrals.
Edited by balders118 on Tuesday 23 August 21:21
Sounds like a sparrowhawk to me.
Both males and females have a blueish-grey back; it's only the juveniles that have a brownish back.
Males are smaller than females and have an orangey-brown barred breast; females are bigger and have a grey barred breast, and typically a pale 'eyebrow' line above their eye.
Goshawks are actually more brown than sparrowhawks, but in any case are much larger than what you're describing.
It could conceivably be a hobby or a young peregrine (whereabouts in the South West are you; Hobbies are rare, but are summer visitors to the Somerset levels); the latter very unlikely and only if you've misjudged the size, but a common-or-garden Sparrowhawk is definitely the best candidate.
Unlikely to be a Kestrel, as the usually hunt small rodent by hovering, rather than taking birds on the wing.
Both males and females have a blueish-grey back; it's only the juveniles that have a brownish back.
Males are smaller than females and have an orangey-brown barred breast; females are bigger and have a grey barred breast, and typically a pale 'eyebrow' line above their eye.
Goshawks are actually more brown than sparrowhawks, but in any case are much larger than what you're describing.
It could conceivably be a hobby or a young peregrine (whereabouts in the South West are you; Hobbies are rare, but are summer visitors to the Somerset levels); the latter very unlikely and only if you've misjudged the size, but a common-or-garden Sparrowhawk is definitely the best candidate.
Unlikely to be a Kestrel, as the usually hunt small rodent by hovering, rather than taking birds on the wing.
Edited by Sam_68 on Tuesday 23 August 21:22
Not a Hobby, if you're in Swindon then (unless it's a freak visitor or it's badly lost). The aforementioned Somerset levels and some bits of coastal Dorset (eg. the Studland Bay nature reserve) are the two hot-spots for Hobbies in this end of the country.
Tip: if you ever go looking for Hobbies at Studland, remember that the beach beyond the nature reserve is for nudists and wandering over the dunes fully clothed and carying a pait of high-quality binoculars can sometimes be misconstrued.
Ask me how I know...
Tip: if you ever go looking for Hobbies at Studland, remember that the beach beyond the nature reserve is for nudists and wandering over the dunes fully clothed and carying a pait of high-quality binoculars can sometimes be misconstrued.
Ask me how I know...
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