Description:

The Sparrowhawk is a raptor designed for hunting small birds in wooded areas. As such it has rather short rounded wings and a long square-ended tail that help it to manoeuvre through woodland in pursuit of its favoured prey. The plumage is grey or brown above and the underside has horizontal barring. Unlike the Kestrel, the Sparrowhawk does not hover but prefers instead to use the available cover as it comes dashing through the garden after small birds.

Ecology & Behaviour:

Sparrowhawks are specially adapted to feed on birds. This brought them into conflict with people rearing gaembirds, particularly where large numbers of pheasants were released into a wood, and Sparrowhawks were controlled. Since legal protection has been better enforced in the countryside, illegal persecution has been greatly reduced and the population has begun to recover. This recovery has enabled Sparrowhawks to exploit our gardens in the search for food. Seeing your favourite Blackbird or Robin taken by a Sparrowhawk can be very distressing but it is worth remembering that this is a natural process, exactly the same as a Blackbird feeding on worms or a Blue Tit taking caterpillars - it is part of a natural system. Because it is a natural system there is a balance that occurs, the predators regulating the number of small birds and the availability of small birds influencing the number of Sparrowhawks. Because of this it is extremely unlikely that Sparrowhawk predation could cause the long-term decline of songbirds that we have seen. The blame for this lies elsewhere, in the changes to the countryside induced by Man.

Sparrowhawks also suffered as a result of the use of DDT. When DDT and other organochlorine pesticides were first used they were viewed as a wonderful tool within agriculture, partly because a single application lasted for such a long time. Unfortunately these compunds were found to persist in the food chain and to accumulate in animals at the top of the food chain (like Sparrowhawks and Peregrine Falcons). These compounds influenced the reproductive output of Sparrowhawks by reducing the thickness of the eggshells. These in turn were more likely to break while the female was incubating and the population of Sparrowhawks crashed. Once the chemicals concerned had been banned the population began to recover.

Garden BirdWatch links

A 'Focus On' article on the Sparrowhawk appeared in issue 18 of the Bird Table magazine. Garden BirdWatch participants can download a copy of this article from the participant only pages.