Forum Topic

Sparrowhawk near Ealing Broadway  kills pigeon

I live about 300 m north of the station . I saw something fluttering on the back lawn, about 1100  . it was a pigeon, as I thought squabbling with another. Then saw a shower of feathers , and one dead pigeon being lunch for a large-ish fierce looking fantastic  bird ,which I checked in the bird book , was a sparrowhawk I think  female . It chomped away for about 20 minutes . Is this why there are recently  very few small birds in the garden  such as blue tits . Remaining pigeons look undrstandably  edgy . Great to see this handsome pigeon whacker !

Nicholas Black ● 5500d5 Comments

I think it was a sparrowhawk that took a bluetit from a feeder in my garden, so I moved the feeder to the middle of a large rose bush where small birds can still reach it. They now ignore other feeders.

Chris Bell ● 5498d

Ranger in Elthorne Park told me that there had been a pair in the park a year ago. Would be good to see them take on the magpies!!Who would win...

Jilly Paterson ● 5498d

There was a family of falcons nesting outside an office window in Ealing last year. Food factories in Park Royal also pay for a company to bring some quite large birds of prey to deter pigeons, They arrive in a small van over weekends when it is quiet, and the pigeons soon scatter.

Chris Bell ● 5498d

Theres a thread somewhere about Sparrowhawks.  I was upset when one swooped into my garden - maybe two years ago now - and caught a blackbird.  Feral Pigeons ok but blackbirds, no.  Fortunately, my garden is alive with blue tits, coal tits, longhaired tits, gold finches, bull finches, greater woodpecker,collared dove, parakeets, wood pigeon, wren, robins, magpies, crows, and those little birds that look like sparrows but aren't, bramblings maybe.

Barbara Yerolemou ● 5499d

Could you send it round to deal with the pigeons that eat all the food from the bird feeders and crap on my terrace?

Susan Kelly ● 5500d