What Bird of Prey?

[Synn]

Recently a friend and I have found remains of animals spread around the bottom of a very large oak, so far we've found:

Many, many pheasant and woodpigeon feathers,
Teal wings,
Rabbit skulls,
Bird bones, some of which are broken,
a large Pellet,
as well as eaten pine cones and hazelnuts.

As we're in Dumfries area the pine cones and nuts could very well just be Red Squirrels, but what bird would be killing these other animals, teals, woodies, pheasants and rabbits?

Image below of some remains, 20p for size comparison:

[Wild-Woman]

Have you got a picture of the pellet?

[htcdude]

Buzzards would quite easily take things that size.

Nige

[Synn]

Thanks for the replies, we had thought about Buzzard, but were eager not to rule out Goshawk, since we've heard a similar call from that area, and know that they live within three miles of this forest

Here's some pictures of the pellet, we can break it down and take photos of the contents if needed

[Synn]

Also found the remains of a Black-Headed Gull near there too if it helps

[A Rural Heart]

Hi Synn,

Buzzards are able to digest bones, so their pellets may only contain very small bones or no bones at all. The pellets in your photographs seem about the right size for a Buzzard seeing as they are often between 60-70mm long. Buzzards around my home do a lot of their hunting from perches and these perches are along regular routes where the Buzzard knows it won't have to wait long before dinner comes within easy reach of a silent glided drop. Its appears that your predator plucks its meals from a regular perch which seems to suggest a Buzzard. Having said that, don't rule out the Hawks either. I watched a Sparrow Hawk drop onto a mature cock pheasant in the orchard at the end of my garden the other day. And have seen Sparrow Hawks chase Partridges into briar thickets in similar fashion to that demonstrated by Goshawks several times in the past before.

Kind Regards,

Lee.

[Synn]

Thanks for the reply

We'd thought that a buzzard was the most likely answer to our questions

We did find a whole mouse skull, bottom jaw as well inside the pellet

[Tracey.A]

Sounds like an owl pellet to me, because it contains bones. Unlikely that this is responsible for the large dead birds. I think the pigeon would be the largest bird it would have a go at.

[A Rural Heart]

Hi Tracey, and All,

Did you know that Tawny owls often take young pheasants from release pens (open topped enclosures mostly built within woodland for specific purposes of introducing reared pheasants to woodland and covert's prior to the shooting season) at certain times of the year? Whilst these pheasants are not fully grown they are still much larger than a pigeon. This type of owl predation does not last long maybe two to three weeks at most but it does happen.

In the bad old days, way before the Wildlife and Countryside Act of 1981 that offered protection to these birds (and others of course), "some" gamekeepers used to place traps on top of the release pen fencing poles to catch birds of prey that would use these poles for perching. These traps were designed to catch the birds by their legs and tallon's and were generally known as "pole traps". Originally traps used would be the infamous "Gin Trap" and were later replaced by the "Juby" "Imbra" or "Fen Trap" types. Tawny owls were very high on their list of targets but as one might imagine many types of bird would fall foul to these disgraceful contraptions. Thankfully these acts of barbarism no longer take place as attitudes have totally changed towards our birds of prey. The Belvoir Estate where I live is a perfect example of this change in attitude. Whilst it is undoubtedly a huge shooting estate which makes a lot of money from shooting, it also works very closely with bird groups having been actively involved in several bird of prey reintroduction projects. And no doubt because of this change in attitude I regularly see Red Kites and Buzzards soar above the roof of my house and often see Peregrine falcons out hunting very close to my home.

Beyond the Victorian orchard at the bottom of our garden is ancient parkland that the locals call the "Browny". These are a collection of meadows with stands of beech, oak, ash and large amounts of horse chestnut in amongst them. Horse chestnut in particular is prone to bough splitting which often leaves gashes and holes which nesting birds take full advantage of. Tawny owls, Jackdaws, and Woodpeckers are very common here so our garden trees always have Tawny owls visiting them most evenings. During the nesting season I often see two or three juvenile owls sitting on the same branch whilst their parents fly in to feed them in the twilight. These young birds are very noisy and certainly keep the adults busy.

Kind Regards,

Lee.

[Tracey.A]

Lee that was really fascinating about the Tawny owls, I've certainly learnt a lot about how they trapped them in days of old. I think you are so fortunate to live where you do and have all those wonderful birds around you. The Tawny owl is amazingly beautiful, I was lucky enough to have a close encounter with one once whilst walking around at Vane Farm reserve (RSPB), I'd heard it during the day, which doesn't happen very often and walked towards the sound. Next minute I looked up and there it was - stunning! One of those special moments that you never forget.

Tracey