Sparrowhawk mystery death.

[Jim Ford]

Another posting on sparrow hawks has jogged my memory.

A few years ago I came across a dead sparrow hawk in a wooded nature reserve. The body was unmarked but was decapitated, with the head a couple of feet away - also unmarked. The eyes were open and still bright. I looked for any evidence of what could have caused this, but found none. There were no loose feathers at the scene. Also, there were no overhead wires nearby.

Anyone has suggestions as to how this may have occurred?

Jim

[Tracey.A]

I also found a bird of prey, which had had its head and feet removed, couldn't find any sign of them. I think that another bird of prey had been responsible, but have no idea which one. Hopefully someone will be along soon to answer this, I just find it very puzzling!

Tracey

[Kev-B]

The fact that both birds were decapitated & that body parts had been removed suggests human intervention to me ..

I can't offhand think of any other bird which would go to the trouble of removing parts ... very sad ..

Bye for now ..

Kev ..

[Tracey.A]

That's one possibility Kev, but I do know that some birds of prey, such as the Sparrowhawk will remove the head. If Jim's Sparrowhawk was a male, I wonder if a female who is larger than the male killed it? Perhaps this male had wondered into the territory of a female. That said, I don't know why the feet and head were missing on my bird, the rest of the carcass appeared intact? Maybe, as you said my bird's death was due to human intervention

Thanks Kev

Tracey

[northenige]

This is classic Tawny owl signs, decapitation nothing else picked quite a few of pheasants up out of the release pen like this , Tawny's are awesome predators when other birds are at roost. I believe they often mistake larger birds heads for smaller prey and decapitate the head but never eat any of the kill of larger prey.

[Kev-B]

Hi Nige ..

Thanks for that .... That's interesting behaviour & something I wasn't aware of ...

I hadn't even considered an Owl as the possible culprit ..

Bye for now ..

Kev ..

[Jim Ford]

Originally Posted by northenige

This is classic Tawny owl signs, decapitation nothing else

Excellent - cleared up a mystery that's been puzzling me for years!

Jim

[Tracey.A]

Originally Posted by northenige

This is classic Tawny owl signs, decapitation nothing else picked quite a few of pheasants up out of the release pen like this , Tawny's are awesome predators when other birds are at roost. I believe they often mistake larger birds heads for smaller prey and decapitate the head but never eat any of the kill of larger prey.

I'd no idea that Tawny owls did this, it's fascinating! Would explain why there were no feathers lying around.

Thanks Northenige.

Tracey

[demicav]

Originally Posted by northenige

This is classic Tawny owl signs, decapitation nothing else picked quite a few of pheasants up out of the release pen like this , Tawny's are awesome predators when other birds are at roost. I believe they often mistake larger birds heads for smaller prey and decapitate the head but never eat any of the kill of larger prey.

That's amazing but makes sense that they would mistake heads for smaller prey.