I thought Jana's bird sounded like Brown Goshaw, and Feral Pigeons are
typical prey. But in Melbourne, anyway, Collared Sparrowhawks are
capable of killing both Feral Pigeons and Spotted Doves, which seemed to
be main prey brought to the Sparrowhawk nest in my neighbours' garden
about two years ago - the young birds fledged in the New Year. The
female would fly about through the branches of a grove of large
pine-trees with her prey, hotly pursued by her three young, for at least
10 minutes before one was allowed to snatch it. In-flight training
obviously.
I suspect the male was responsible for the large number of part-eaten
Indian Mynahs and Starlings we found.
I have no doubt about the ID because, sadly, one young bird was killed -
perhaps a flying accident - and I was able to examine it carefully and
measure it.
The Pigeons were mostly caught near a local road-bridge over the creek -
there are always Pigeons and Spotted Doves sitting about on the wires
above the road and they roost underneath it. I was surprised that they
didn't move their daytime camp from this sustained predation.
Anthea Fleming
Ivanhoe, Vic
Jana wrote:
Hi again,
Thanks for the responses everyone. From a number of replies suggesting
that a pigeon may be too large a bird for a Collared Sparrowhawk to
tackle, and another reply telling me that the goshawk has a
noticeably protruding eyebrow, I'm pretty sure that it was the
goshawk. I'd heard of the nesting Peregrine Falcons in the city of
course, but didn't realise other raptors would be as common around the
city as replies have indicated. It was great to get a good, close-up,
all-day view of this one, though.
Bill, I don't think it was a Pacific Baza, as it was barred all the
way up to its chin, and didn't have a crest at all, but I will
definitely keep an eye out for them on my walks around the
neighbourhood! Nice to know they are around.
Cheers,
Jana.
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