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Post by rowanberry on Sept 10, 2016 21:06:43 GMT
A first yesterday... I was out in the garden when all the birds did their vanishing act just as a sparrowhawk flew in, and it landed in one of the trees.
But then, right behind it another came in practically on the first one's tailfeathers and landed in the hedge. They both sat for just a second or two and then just as quickly left, going off in the same direction.
Could it have been an adult showing a fledgling hunting techniques? I didn't think sprawks generally hunted in pairs, but I don't know enough about them to be sure.
Amazing to see two together like that; I think the fact that the sparrows seem to have had a very good year is keeping them coming around.
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Post by accipiter on Sept 10, 2016 22:21:11 GMT
I do not like to say this never happens or that never happens as in the past I have proved this is not always the case, but one can say their behaviour is mostly tied to a rule of thumb.
And so the adults do not in my experience teach their offspring to hunt as such as it is instinctive but they will sometimes encourage their offspring to chase them whilst they carry the prey dropping it for the juveniles to catch.
And so my first thought is they were most likely two juveniles from the same brood still together as sparrow hawks normally hunt alone, the only other time I have seen two together that could be seen as cooperative hunting is during the nesting season when the hen will let the male share in its kill. In this case the male is often heard food begging for a share. Or equally several as many as five on one occasion hunting within a large starling flock which seem to benefit from each other’s presence although they were not not strictly hunting as a unit.
Alan
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Post by rowanberry on Sept 14, 2016 19:56:49 GMT
You're probably right, Alan... I hadn't thought of that.
Our blackbird fledgings stayed around the garden for several weeks together, so it only makes sense that other birds would exhibit the same sort of behavior- thanks!
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Post by Tringa on Sept 15, 2016 19:13:10 GMT
That really must have been a great sight, Rowan. Apart from a distant view in a tree or on a pylon my views of sparrowhawks have been very fleeting - a second or so on a post and one doing a high speed turn in the garden, but two together that is something to treasure.
Interesting observation Alan. I'm guessing as the ones you saw were after starlings it was in a fairly open area where a disturbed flock might offer relatively easy pickings.
Dave
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Post by accipiter on Sept 16, 2016 16:35:54 GMT
Interesting observation Alan. I'm guessing as the ones you saw were after starlings it was in a fairly open area where a disturbed flock might offer relatively easy pickings. Dave Yes Dave starlings, this type of hunting technique seems to happen from the beginning of September when the juvenile’s and adult’s starlings join up preparing to roost. Of course it may well happen at other times too and probably does but observing these things relies on being in the right place at the right time, and as one might expect it is not that easy especially being just a one man band most of the time. And of course studying the behaviour of one species does also have its disadvantages in that one can miss other raptor / owl behaviour not to mention corvid behaviour that I am also interested in which is one reason why I took a break a few years ago to study the kestrel and the little owl which I am currently doing. So all in all it has taken me almost a whole life time starting from the age of seven to record everything that happens with the Sparrowhawk even though I was observing them round the clock for many years. Staying put in one type of habitat / situation can be revealing too but it is not the total answer because all one is doing is recording how that particular pair / pairs behave, and just to make the study even more time consuming it is but just one technique from their varied arsenal of weapons that one needs to record from still hunting to hunting on foot. I must just say though this particular technique looks quite comical when seen for the first time, as does flushing their intended victim from hedgerow cover. Another hunting practice is stooping much like a peregrine which is quite dramatic falling like a bullet down from the sky, as is crepuscular hunting to lots of other behaviour / techniques in-between making the Sparrowhawk quite a fascinating difficult but rewarding predator to observe. But paradoxically once familiar with their movements and behaviour it does turn this secretive bird into something far easier and predictable to get the grips with but only if one is well prepared to put in the time. Alan |
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Post by aeshna5 on Sept 17, 2016 9:14:32 GMT
Watching a juvenile Sparrowhawk playfully chasing a Magpie several times around a line of moribund oaks.
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Post by accipiter on Sept 17, 2016 14:56:59 GMT
Watching a juvenile Sparrowhawk playfully chasing a Magpie several times around a line of moribund oaks. I witnessed something very similar recently but together they disappeared into the woods; I never found any plucked feathers so I presume the magpie got away. Interestingly enough our local juvenile magpies have been visiting the bird bath each and every early morning quite happily, well up to now they have but since a pile of black feathers appeared they have not come back anymore, it would seem they have got the message, stay away from the bird bath! But it would seem this collard dove was not so lucky (it lost its head), this particular male Sparrow hawk could not lift the bird and so flew off but I have no doubt whatsoever he will be back when things quieten back down. Alan Attachments:
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Post by NellyDee on Sept 24, 2016 8:03:51 GMT
I must admit I thought Sparrow Hawks helped or gave lessons to their young, purely based on a couple of occasions. The first was when I spotted a Sparrow Hawk sat in a hedge at the bottom of the garden (was preparing to take photo) when another sparrow Hawk flew low over the field behind sending small birds off in alarm towards the hedge where by the one in the hedge took off and grabbed one. A couple of years later, here, a young sparrow hawk was sat on the fencing round the oil tank. I was getting concerned as it was 'crying' and had been there for a while, when, I presume, Mum flew out the trees towards it sending the small birds on the feeder off in a panic. The young one did not move in fact almost went into panic mode. As a bye the bye this young Sparrow Hawk was adopted by the jays, one even trying to feed it. The Sparrow Hawk stayed with 'the gang' through the winter and I swear it was they that guided it going to the trees above the feeder where by it could just swoop down. It has been a resident here ever since but the new generation of jays are inclined to attack it.
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