[helenol]

Today, after listening to the alarm call of a female blackbird at the end of the garden, and watching her jump up and down on the fence going absolutely mad for what seemed like an age, I wondered what was going on. I peeped over the fence and unintentionally disturbed a sparrowhawk eating a collared dove about 6 feet away from me.

A shame though it was for the poor dove, I couldn't help breathing a small sigh of relief that it wasn't the juvenile robins/tits/goldfinches etc on todays menu. Does anyone else ever think this way, or is it just me?

Regards
Helen

[pauco]

helen
no you are not the only one to think like that me to.
bert

[Andy Bright]

A collared dove is a mighty big meal for a sparrowhawk. Our regular sparrowhawks tend to stick to the smaller finch-sized birds, every now and again a Blackbird or Starling will meet with an untimely end.... with a large and productive cherry tree, a sparrowhawk isn't the most unwelcome visitor at this time of year.

We all have our favourite birds in our gardens, i think that's unavoidable .... I would hate to see our Bullfinches 'cop an unfortunate one', likewise the G-S woodpeckers.

I have never regarded the Robin as a particular friend... even less so when they chased a pair of Redstarts out of the garden, one spring morning. The male and female redstarts had been in and around the garden for several days and gave me a little hope about them breeding here. Besides which, the Robin is a pretty ruthless bird.
Regards,
Andy

[robinm]

Andy: Robins ruthless - never (and if anyone disagrees I'll send the boys round).

ROBIN

[walwyn]

Robins are pretty aggressive, tie few feathers dyed red in a tree and watch the resident robin attack it, actually it doesn't have to be feathers a bit of red rag works too.

I smile when people say how lovely the dawn chorus is, because mostly its just birds yelling "MY SPACE - BOG OFF".

[helenol]

I like robins. Dunnocks too, I feel a little sorry for them really, dunno (ck..excuse the pun) why. I did though see two dunnocks fighting not long ago.

They started on the trellis, continued in the air then they disappeared onto the grass (our garden is about 3/4 feet higher than the house).

I went outside to have a nosey what was going on, I couldn't believe it, one dunnock had the other pinned to the ground!
Eventually the "pinner" flew off, followed a second or two by the "pinned".

I never realised dunnocks were so aggressive, or - they weren't about to do what the birds and bees do were they??? Not knowing about the "courtship" of these birds....

Regards
Helen

[pauco]

walwyn
but they have a lovely way of saying "BOG OFF"
BERT.

[pauco]

HELEN
could it have been a date rape.
bert

[helenol]

"groan"......

[pauco]

helen
this is the best I could find on the (courtship) of dunnocks.
by prof nick davies, of cambridge university. studying dunnocks
revealed a quite different system. in this species the females
compete amongst themselves for territory without reference
to the males, which then have to compete with each other to
(move in) A dominant "alpha" and subordinate "beta" male
whose territories both over lap the larger territory of a female,
often both join forces with her and cease to compete with each
other, defending the single territory as a trio.
although polyandrous trios defend territories as a team , the alpha male gaurds the female vigorously, trying to stop the beta
male from mating with her.
the female tries to escape, as a quick liaison with the" lodger" is
very much in her chicks interest. only if the beta male succeeded
in mating with her, will he subsequently help her to feed them,
increasing the broods chances of fledging succesfully. in gardens
where dunnocks are artificially fed in winter and during the breeding season, monogamy is likely to be more common.
this is not only because more females survive the winter but also
because when food is provided, the size of females territories
decreases. each bird needs less space to find enough to eat.
hence, an individual male can manage to patrol a females territory without the help of a beta male. the dunnocks specialisation on very tiny prey probably means that any extra
help with feeding the young is particulary valuable.
this may be why such complex mating behaviour has evolved
in this species. hope this may be of some help.
bert

[helenol]

Bert

Thanks very much for the info. I never cease to be amazed at the goings on in my garden; and to think, what these little inconspicuous birds get up to...!

Regards
Helen