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Bird or Prey takes Dove in Back Garden (1 Viewer)

P

pocketmoon

New member
Hi,

Yesterday afternoon a Bird of Prey took down a collared dove that, as far as
I can tell, was sitting in a tree at the end of the garden. I suppose it may
have been in flight but either way the pair came crashing down through the
branches and landed at the foot of the kiddies climbing frame!

The Bop was pinning the dove down across it's wings and slowly pecking the
plumage from it's chest. My tried to grab a photo but it turned out a bit
like one of those loch ness moster picture :)

http://www.wavestate.com/bop.jpg


It was a young collared dove and the BoP wasn't much larger, having dark
plumage, a light neck and an orange/brown head.

I thought this would be the ideal place to get it identified :)

My wife and I debated how long the BoP would take to a) clean away the chest
plumage, b) get through the doves chest and c) kill it! It become a moot
point though, as I tried to get a bit closer the Bop leapt away and the dove
escaped.

Rob J
Wokingham
 
Hi Rob,

A warm welcome to BirdForum from all the Admin, Staff and Moderators.

As Jason says - sparrowhawk is the bird in the photo.
 
Last edited:
I've got to agree with sparrowhawk.

On another note - if you see the bird take another prey in your garden it is best not to approach - the bird will often be flushed and lose it's lunch. The prey are often fatally wounded even if they fly off, and the sparrowhawk will just move on and take something else. So if it happens again I'd just sit back and watch - it may be a bit gory but you don't get to see this kind of behaviour often so make the most of it.
 
Sound advice, postcardcv. It's grisly, but that's nature and Stoats, Weasels, Rats, Squirrels, even woodpeckers are all just as ruthless.
 
Hi pocketmoon,

As with everyone else, the bird you saw was indeed a sparrowhawk. If doves and other birds frequent your garden you'll probably witness many more "flashes" of sparrowhawk around the place.
However, I might suggest that it was a male sparrowhawk you saw instead of female? You mentioned the bird being "dark" which would me make me think of slaty-grey instead of the brown plumage of a female. You also said it has "orangy-brown" head colour which could also indicate male as they posess rufous barring on the breast and rufous cheeks. I'm guessing that a fledged collared dove and male sparrowhawk would be pretty close in size comparison also but it's hard to take too much detail from the photo. Either way, small point and great Sparrowhawk "action" moment!!
 
Hi Mícheál,
While I agree with your points re Sparrowhawk ageing to a degree,note that older females can look more male-like in colouration,with some being quite orange below.They also tend to get slatier above with age(see Forsman 1999).
Agree with everyone above,the bird is clearly a Sparrowhawk.
Harry
 
Point taken Harry although the Collins "Bible" also states that the female Sparrowhawk is "rarely faintly tinged rufous, and then similar to the least rufous male" regarding the barring on the birds' breast.
The original poster made a point of describing an "orange/brown head" which is what led me to surmise that it may be a male. Although the picture is blurred, the bird does appear to be at the lower size scale for Sparrowhawk echoed by the poster's admission that it "wasn't much larger" than a young collared dove. I've seen female Sparrowhawks take down pigeons and they don't appear small. I'm sure they would quite easily overshadow a newly fledged collared dove?

Anyways, Viva la debate ;)

Regards
 
Hi Mícheál,
Point taken right back!Doesn't look that big in the pic,and it may well be a male,but I was merely pointing out that the colouration alone would not rule out a female bird.
No offence intended,and no debate required:it is a Sparrowhawk,after all!
Harry
 
pocketmoon said:
Hi,

Yesterday afternoon a Bird of Prey took down a collared dove that, as far as
I can tell, was sitting in a tree at the end of the garden. I suppose it may
have been in flight but either way the pair came crashing down through the
branches and landed at the foot of the kiddies climbing frame!

The Bop was pinning the dove down across it's wings and slowly pecking the
plumage from it's chest. My tried to grab a photo but it turned out a bit
like one of those loch ness moster picture :)

http://www.wavestate.com/bop.jpg


It was a young collared dove and the BoP wasn't much larger, having dark
plumage, a light neck and an orange/brown head.

I thought this would be the ideal place to get it identified :)

My wife and I debated how long the BoP would take to a) clean away the chest
plumage, b) get through the doves chest and c) kill it! It become a moot
point though, as I tried to get a bit closer the Bop leapt away and the dove
escaped.

Rob J
Wokingham
Click to expand...

Hi Rob

This sounds like it could be sparrowhawk to me

davegriff
 
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