Sparrowhawk

Sparrowhawk ~ Accipiter nisus

Sparrowhawks are birds of prey, mainly eating small birds and they belong to the same family as Vultures and Eagles!

This sparrowhawk has been seen hunting around the local area on a number of occasions and was photographed on a roof in Aden Grove N16, as it scans the scene for prey in the gardens below.

The Newington Green area does have at least one good sized flock of House Sparrows, as well as other garden birds such as Blue Tits and Great Tits, all of which will have attracted the hawk to this locality.

Sad though it is to see a small bird caught and eaten by a bird of prey, the fact that it's surviving around here indicates that we have a reasonably healthy population of garden birds. Many people have been putting out bird food and have planted native shrubs and trees that offer small birds a good habitat and this has helped them to live in this built-up area.

It is encouraging to see a sparrowhawk here again, for their numbers plummeted some years ago but they have gradually been recovering.

Photo: Julia Liesching

December 2010