I don’t know about
the mid-air catch means it is more likely to be a Sparrowhawk but that it was a
small bird
suggests the same a bit more. But there is a fair overlap with the two species and separation of favoured prey between the sexes. So no way of knowing now if you didn’t at the time. Also
Collared Sparrowhawks
here seem to take a lot of Crested Pigeons, which are hardly small. Then again it could have been two birds that you saw in that encounter.
Philip
From: Rod Mackay [
Sent: Friday, 2 October 2015 11:16 PM
To:
Subject: Re: [canberrabirds] Collared Sparrowhawks - Narrabundah Hill.
Thanks David for posting this.
It prompts me to recount my own encounter this afternoon with a very co-operative Collared Sparrowhawk - or Brown Goshawk - to be truthful I'm not sure which! Location, the northern boundary of Narrabundah Hill. As I walked down the track away from the road
a medium sized bird with a slate-grey back darted across in front of me and disappeared into a dense flowering wattle, causing a Crimson Rosella to exit the tree in alarm. After scanning the tree with the binoculars without a sign of it I was about to move
on when it suddenly emerged at speed from the thick growth, twisting and turning, to snatch a small bird in mid air and re-enter the cover of the tree. It was literally all over in a flash, had I looked in the opposite direction for a couple of seconds I
would have missed it. Having lost sight of the bird I was once again about to move on when it moved to a clear branch higher up in the tree and proceeded to, well, enjoy its meal, a process which went on for some time. Am I correct in assuming that the mid-air
catch means it is more likely to be a Sparrowhawk?
Cheers, Rod
On 2/10/2015 10:45 AM, David Rees wrote:
Recently came across a couple of very cooperative sparrowhawks - a female and a juvenile male - here is a close look of these birds https://vimeo.com/141122152
For those who have not seen my lovely film of a sparrowhawk taking a bath in the botanic gardens taken this time last year(ish) it is here https://vimeo.com/110971574
