Would a sparrow hawk take a kestrel

[tigertom]

I ask this, as today whilst out in local park sighted what I think was a female sparrow hawk that seemed to be stalking a flock of jackdaws both were quite high sparrow hawk higher than jackdaws when all of a sudden the hawk banked and went in to fast shallow stoop I followed it and to my surprise it had gone for a kestrel, which it missed as kestrel dived out the way and in to a hedge think it must of came out other side as did not see it again, what I think was a sparrow hawk, having missed came close to crashing into ground befor gaining hight and going over the top of a wood the way jackdaws had gone.
It all happend rather fast I had not even noticed the kestral till sparrow hawk went for it.
MIKE

[Brocakat]

Well they aren't that much bigger than a Blackbird/Thrush.

What with the element of suprise, too.

[Acipiter]

The answer is yes Mike, they have been know to take kestrels. They also go after jackdaw flocks, especially when some of the flock will containing young birds at this time of year, (easier to catch). I have observed this happening every year with out fail for a good few years now.

[tigertom]

Originally Posted by Acipiter

The answer is yes Mike, they have been know to take kestrels. They also go after jackdaw flocks, especially when some of the flock will containing young birds at this time of year, (easier to catch). I have observed this happening every year with out fail for a good few years now.

Thanks for that, looks as if sparrow hawk was stalking the jackdaws and saw what it thought was a easy target, must admit it came very close to getting the kestrel except for the maneuver the kestrel pulled off think it had been to stunt school
MIKE

[ChrisKten]

Well there's no problem with size; a Pigeon is a similar size to a Kestrel, albeit plumper, and I've seen plenty of Pigeons killed in the garden by Sparrowhawks. Incidentally, even a male Sparrowhawk will take a Pigeon, though mostly sick or weak Pigeons.

However, I'm curious as to how a Sparrowhawk would deal with eating a Kestrel. The prey is eaten alive (unlike Falcons, Sparrowhawks don't have a "kill shot"), and is usually restrained on it's back or front (depends on how it ends up after the initial struggle); although Pigeons can be manoeuvred onto their side, with a wing sort of gripped under the Sparrowhawk's wing (I've a picture if I've not explained that well enough). Usually, the prey will try to peck at the Sparrowhawk, or push it off with it's feet, so I can see a Kestrel being a very risky kill for a Sparrowhawk, as the Kestrels talons could easily injure it.

I'd be interested if anyone has actually seen a Sparrowhawk eat a Kestrel, as I suppose a different feeding approach would be needed.

Sorry to the OP if I've hijacked your thread

Chris

[Dogghound]

This could also just as easily have been mobbing behaviour. These two species will mobb each other when they come into contact.

[watsthat]

I saw a Sparrowhawk try to take a young Magpie once. After a noisy struggle they parted company and flew off apparently none the worse for wear.

Pete

[aeshna5]

It certainly sounds like typical mobbing behaviour to me. I don't doubt that there are records of a Kestrel being killed by a Sparrowhawk but I suspect it's fairly unusual.

Female Sparrowhawks will occasionally kill males of their own species. I remember reading that the larger Goshawk was an important predator of Kestrels in a study at Kielder Forest.

[tigertom]

Originally Posted by Dogghound

This could also just as easily have been mobbing behavior. These two species will mobb each other when they come into contact.

Possible but it did look more like it wanted it for lunch and sparrow hawk was moving at some pace when it attacked and can not see why it would break off from stalking jackdaws to mob the kestrel which was far lower than it minding it own business
MIKE

[Dogghound]

Originally Posted by ChrisKten

Well there's no problem with size; a Pigeon is a similar size to a Kestrel, albeit plumper, and I've seen plenty of Pigeons killed in the garden by Sparrowhawks. Incidentally, even a male Sparrowhawk will take a Pigeon, though mostly sick or weak Pigeons.

However, I'm curious as to how a Sparrowhawk would deal with eating a Kestrel. The prey is eaten alive (unlike Falcons, Sparrowhawks don't have a "kill shot"), and is usually restrained on it's back or front (depends on how it ends up after the initial struggle); although Pigeons can be manoeuvred onto their side, with a wing sort of gripped under the Sparrowhawk's wing (I've a picture if I've not explained that well enough). Usually, the prey will try to peck at the Sparrowhawk, or push it off with it's feet, so I can see a Kestrel being a very risky kill for a Sparrowhawk, as the Kestrels talons could easily injure it.

I'd be interested if anyone has actually seen a Sparrowhawk eat a Kestrel, as I suppose a different feeding approach would be needed.

Sorry to the OP if I've hijacked your thread

Chris

Female sparrowhawks can handle birds upto the size of a pheasant, so a kestrel in relation is not a problem. They handle birds like kestrel by attacking them from the back, which means the kestrel can't use its talons to inflict damage to the sparrowhawk, BOP bills are actually not very strong in most species. The hawk will then attempt to restrain the bird by squeezing its hind and middle talon tight, then relaxing it, tighter again then relax it, constantly driving these two toes deeper into the bird, sometimes moving them sideways, it often targets the throat and head with one of the feet. Small birds are quickly killed larger ones are more messy. They are constantly plucking and eventually start to eat the bird during this process, in some cases still alive. Sparrowhawks lack a significant tomial tooth like in falcons and are less efficient at killing a downed bird in comparison.