Sparrowhawk Behaviour

Spent the morning at RSPB Minsmere today. A Sparrowhawk took a duck for lunch, not unusual except that the duck was the size of the hawk. I could not see through the camera but those alongside with binoculars could see the duck being held head under water until dead. This all took place with a Magpie about a metre away. Suddenly the Sparrowhawk launches from the ground with an amasing effort with the duck clutched in it`s talons. As it does so the Magpie also flies up and mobs the Sparrowhawk who is now rapidly losing height and drops down into the reeds. The image quality is very poor but it gives an idea of the sizes of birds involved. Another really strange thing though, none of the other birds took any notice of the Sparrowhawk whatsoever.

Cedriclink

Gosh dramatic stuff. There was something very similar recently on the BBC Autumnwatch programme. Someone had sent in a video of a sparrowhawk drowning a magpie (I think) in what looked like a garden pond before heaving it off into the air.

Mat

Hi mat, I saw that too. That was one of the surprising things about the situation today. The magpie was so close to the Sparrowhawk that it might have made an easier dinner than the duck. I had the camera on manual focus but the action took me by surprise and I forgot to readjust.

Cedric

I'd much rather eat duck than magpie.

G