Peregrine kill??

[wildherbalian85]

Can a sparrow hawk decapitate a wood pigeon??

I suspect probably a Peregrine as the culprit but don't want to rule out anything yet.

I found in a secluded part of my work a headless wood pigeon that had been partiality plucked and eaten.... it looked to be quite fresh and the blood was still wet. My guess is that the BOP took the pigeon from somewhere else and brought it there to eat but was probably disturbed and took off leaving its kill behind.

The head was not found.

I work just across the road to the beach and a stones through from Portsmouth Harbour.

[animartco]

Hi Wild Herby,
I would love to think that spughawks have graduated to woodies. After all they were named sparrowhawks, and now their favourite prey are collardoves. But woodies are quite a bit bigger. Don't know whether anyone has seen spughawk take a woodie?

[shenk1]

Seen a female take a collared dove and decapitate it then proceed to pluck it in the middle of the lawn (puts you right off your tea I'll tell you!). It couldn't carry it until well and truly plucked so I would suspect something a bit bigger with a woody so you could be right.






(Not that much help but I am trying)
Cheers,shenk1

[wildherbalian85]

a few years back there was a couple of sparrow hawks residing in a local cemetery, they were regularly taking wood pigeons as well as doves and normal pigeons.

My my thoughts of yesterdays wood pigeon was that it might have been taken mid flight. In the neck area there was a lot grass Do they normally eat grass????

[dean young]

I've witnessed a Sparrowhawk take a Woodpigeon and it is a sight for sore eyes!!! I,too,was at work when i watched Woodpigeons nibbling around on a large grassy area just outside my office window and through the lime trees to one side of the grass came the rapter at great speed and hit this poor pigeon full on!! All hell broke loose and there was feathers floating around everywhere.I know its frowned upon to see this kind of thing in nature but to watch this bird do this really is a miracle of evolution!! We've got to understand that a bird of prey feasting on a pigeon is no different to a Blue-tit feeding on a caterpillar!!!

[astarsdad]

Hi,
Years ago, before Buzzards were as common as now, I used to travel to mid-Wales twice a a week. Around the Dolgellau area I used to pass many hedge rows with dead headless wood pigeons on them, in much the same manner as you describe. The local people told me that the local buzzards were resonsible. I did not witness this myself. At that time there were also red kites in the area.
Terry

[aeshna5]

Originally Posted by animartco

Hi Wild Herby,
I would love to think that spughawks have graduated to woodies. After all they were named sparrowhawks, and now their favourite prey are collardoves. But woodies are quite a bit bigger. Don't know whether anyone has seen spughawk take a woodie?

Female Sparrowhawks regularly take Wood Pigeons.

[wildherbalian85]

Am i to conclude that the decapitated woody was the work of a peregrine??

[aeshna5]

Originally Posted by wildherbalian85

Am i to conclude that the decapitated woody was the work of a peregrine??

I don't think there's conclusive evidence that points to any particular species here.

[animartco]

Hi Wildherbalian and others.
Oh good! So they do take woodies. Then they might leave my turties alone, although I only heard him crooning for two days and that was a week ago. Oh dear.
Question- if something that was taking sparrows is now taking something the size of a woodpigeon, has it got bigger? There must be plenty of measurements of spughawks from the time only fifty years ago, when there were no collar doves in Britain. So, in suddeny having this intermediate sized prey in huge abundance has the sparrowhawk actually grown, can anyone tell me?