Nearby nesting of Collared Sparrowhawk & Brown Goshawk at ANBG

[Adam Spence <>]

After spending many hours photographing the Goshawks, 100m feels plausible. As I previously mentioned they seemed to take action against people and other birds who were within about 60m. Despite seeing the Goshawks frequently going after other birds, I’ve never seen any interaction with Sparrowhawks, or seen the Sparrowhawks in the vicinity.

Just looking at the map though I’d say the distance is quite a bit more than 100m. Yesterday’s map had the two nests in line along one of the N-S tarmac roads. But the Goshawk nest is further down the slope beside on one of the lesser gravel paths. That would put that distance at 200-250m.

On Sun, 7 Jan 2018 at 10:10 am Philip Veerman <> wrote:

As in the message that Alison already forwarded. The map that Alison posted yesterday shows nearby nesting of Collared Sparrowhawk & Brown Goshawk at ANBG. Could be less than 100 metres apart. I think that is very surprising.  Do they tolerate each other? Why would they? I wonder whether anyone has seen any interactions between them. I may well be able to go there this week.

 

Philip

 

From: Alison [
Sent: Saturday, 6 January, 2018 3:12 PM
To: 'Philip Veerman'
Cc:
Subject: RE: [canberrabirds] Collared sparrowhawk chicks at ANBG

 

Hi Philip,

 

I have been watching these birds since October and had the identification verified on Canberra Nature Map.

 

Here is a clearer photo of the adult. I  also met a number of birdos/photographers who all referred to this nest as a Sparrowhawk. There was also a Fantail Cuckoo near the Sparrowhawks.

 

See the attached map for the locations.

 

Alison

 

 

From: Philip Veerman [
Sent: Saturday, 6 January 2018 11:02 AM
To: 'Alison'
Subject: RE: [canberrabirds] Collared sparrowhawk chicks at ANBG

 

Hello Alison,

 

That is interesting. To have them nesting in a Eucalypt, that is not typical. I believe, normally they use conifers or similar. I assume you are sure of the identification. I can’t tell either way just from this photo. Another curious thing is how close is this nest to the Goshawk nest?

 

Philip

 

From: Alison
Sent: Saturday, 6 January, 2018 10:24 AM
To:
Subject: [canberrabirds] Collared sparrowhawk chicks at ANBG

 

I had been watching the Collared Sparrowhawks visiting a nest at the Botanic Gardens back in October but there didn’t seem to be any chicks.  They now have four chicks in the nest.

 

Alison Milton