Small Raptor likely to take a wood pigeon?

[channeler]

We were having our tea the other evening when we heard a magpie creating an almighty racket in the garden. I went to investigate and found there was a small hawk/falcon on the lawn on top of a wood pigeon. The hawk was defending its prize against the magpie. The commotion attracted a cat which approached the two birds. With me approaching from one direction and the cat from the other the two birds flew off. The cat departed as well. The wood pigeon scampered off along the ground into the undergrowth. I'm not sure what the raptor was. I got a good look at the head and my best bet would be a hobby. Is it likely that a hobby would try to take a wood pigeon? I did wonder about a kestrel but the head markings didn't seem right and I wouldn't have thought a kestrel would try to take something so big. It wasn't a sparrowhawk. Whatever it was I suspect it was an immature bird. I don't know what it expected to do with the wood pigeon once it had killed it. It certainly wasn't going to be able to lift it anywhere to eat it in peace.

Paul

[solus]

The likelihood is that it was a Sparrowhawk as they are the birds that most often hunt in gardens and take pigeons. Kestrels are too small to tackle a Wood Pigeon and tend to feed on voles and small birds like Sparrows and Hobbies prefer flying creatures like dragonflies which they catch and eat on the wing.

[channeler]

Hi, once I saw a wood pigeon under the raptor I suspected it was a sparrowhawk, but the eyes and head markings weren't right. Paul

[John]

Sparrowhawks regularly take Wood Pigeons from my garden but yesterday one still surprised me.

I happened to open the kitchen door and there on the lawn was a female Sparrowhawk ripping into its catch (a Wood pigeon). It saw me and grabbed the Pigeon and flew with it through a very small gap in the fence, dropping down into the vegetation behind it.

I went back indoors, grabbed my camera and ventured outside. Again the Sparrowhawk saw me before I saw it and flew off leaving the Pigeon carcass deep in the bushes.

I had to go back out side about thirty minutes later and saw that the Pigeon had disappeared.

That was some feat both dragging the Pigeon through that small gap then obviously coming back and taking it away from underneath that dense vegetation.

John

[Dogghound]

It is highly likely it was a sparrowhawk

[channeler]

After looking at loads more photos I agree it was probably a juvenile sparrowhawk. Looked nothing like the photos in my bird ID books and nothing like the adult sparrowhawk I saw in the garden a few years back. I guess there can be a lot of variation in colour and markings. Paul

[Picidae]

Originally Posted by channeler

After looking at loads more photos I agree it was probably a juvenile sparrowhawk. Looked nothing like the photos in my bird ID books and nothing like the adult sparrowhawk I saw in the garden a few years back. I guess there can be a lot of variation in colour and markings. Paul

Interesting you initially thought Hobby from the head markings because that would indicate a rather strong head pattern like a Peregrine, which routinely take pigeons (but not in peoples back gardens as a rule or on the ground!) Immature Sparrowhawks lack bold markings on the head. An adult female would have been perhaps more likely if face pattern was strong and a woodpigeon is a more likely prey item for female than male. Perhaps the individual you saw previously in the garden was a male. Sparrowhawks once they've killed will pluck the prey in situ and then eat it providing it's not disturbed.

If it was a Sparrowhawk, it will probably be back at some point!